Nielsen’s drive to measure TV viewing across all screens accelerated Feb. 11 when it announced plans to measure TV viewing online and on cell phones.
Nielsen will attempt to measure online TV viewing the same way it does traditional TV, with viewer panels. “We will begin by asking a small but representative sample of existing panelists and newly recruited households if they will permit us to track their viewing of television programs over the Internet,” Nielsen said.
“We will initially measure total audience by program or distributor and are considering potential approaches to providing the source of the program by website,” it said.
The tests will begin in Q4 2008.
The company is also working with developers of the Mobile-Pedestrian-Handheld (MPH) system to develop a measurement system for digital television on mobile systems, including cell phones. The MPH is a system consumers will use to view television programs on their mobile devices. Nielsen developed a software meter for mobile devices that can track usage of the consumption of mobile content. It will begin testing the meter this spring.
These efforts are part of Nielsen’s Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement (A2/M2) initiative, launched 18 months ago, that will measure TV content across all screens.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More