Media Giants Teaming Up To Find Out What You Are Watching

Media giants like CBS, Warner Bros., Viacom, NBC Universal, Walt DisneyWalt Disney, News Corp., Discovery Communications, Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Unilever and advertiser WPP Group are all teaming up to discover new ways of measuring media consumption in the U.S.

The group will be called the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM), “the group said it will launch a research fund and review a series of pilot studies with independent measurement firms.” The L.A. Times Reported.

The article went on to quote Viacom CEO Phillppe Dauman, "We all have an urgent need to evolve our methods of measurement."

WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell said, "It is critical for the various constituencies to agree on the priorities for the next generation of media measurement systems."

In trying to make this venture as independent as possible, the group will bring in an independent managing director. If CIMM is successful in producing a new way to measure what the American consumer watches, there could be a backlash from Washington, if it is perceived that the group’s method is independent or not.

Many in Big Media and advertising have been concerned with how reliable the Nielson Rating system is in this new age of multiple media platforms. They hope to find a more accurate way to see who is watching what.