News Broadcasting
News Corp protests Nielsen meters in NY
MUMBAI: News Corp has denounced Nielsen Media Research’s decision to start tracking electronically New York City television viewers’ viewing habits with the help of people meters.
Nielsen has decided to postpone the launch of the meters in Chicaog and Los Angeles till June due to sampling problems, while it says it is ready to go ahead with the project of replacing the manually maintained ‘sweeps diaries’ in NY City on 8 April.
The Nielsen notice to broadcasters on the same drew stringent opposition from News Corp, which said on Monday that there is “growing evidence” that the use of people meters to measure local audiences “could undercount viewership by as much as 25 percent,” especially among young people and minority groups, and said that the problem was particularly pronounced in large, ethnically diverse urban areas.”
Detailed ratings data on a daily basis would be available from the nation’s biggest city from 8 April, but Lachlan Murdoch, News Corp’s deputy COO and chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group says he “cannot understand how Nielsen can still proceed with the meter in New York while such significant issues remain as to the reliability of their numbers.” Murdoch, in his statement has been categorical that “If the meter isn’t good enough for Los Angeles and Chicago yet, it certainly isn’t good enough for the nation’s largest market.”
While Nielsen has used people meters since 1987 to track daily national TV viewing habits, it has deployed them only in 50 markets, limited to overall household ratings. Detailed demographic information available for local TV stations to set advertising rates thus far comes from manual diaries recorded four times a year for the “sweeps” — in November, February, May and July, but these have been open to criticism of inaccuracy owing to viewers’ tendencies to fill them in at the end of the period.
Nielsen, a unit of Dutch publisher VNU has maintained that the meters, are far more accurate than the diaries. Its only reason for delaying the launch of meters in LA and Chicago is the time taken to develop accurate samples. Nielsen spokesman Jack Loftus says “In New York, we were very confident in the quality of the sample, so we went ahead with it as scheduled.” He disputes News Corp’s contention that the electronic system undercounts viewership, saying, “We told them just the opposite was true.”
While reports indicate that News Corp’s apprehension in subscribing to the meters could stem from lower ratings garnered electronically from these cities for Fox stations than when recorded in the diaries, Murdoch in his statement argues that the meters methodology may be “flawed – particularly in large, ethnically diverse urban areas – we recommended conducting a review prior to roll out.”
Nielsen began the use of local people meters in Boston in 2002, with plans to expand the system to four more cities — Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Francisco — this year, and the remaining top ten markets by 2006.
“Until Nielsen can prove the accuracy of its numbers, particularly in counting young and African-American viewers, we risk implementing a seriously flawed system. Nielsen has an obligation to design a system that inspires real confidence among broadcasters, advertisers and viewers. It must take all necessary steps, including an independent audit of the people meter methodology, to ensure that this new measurement system is credible and reliable before deploying the system in any markets,” says Murdoch in his official statement.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
