Truth, Lies and Media”

Hear the interview from August 18th, 2008 from “Tomorrow Will Be Televised”, an industry podcast and radio show hosted and produced by media critic and journalist, Simon Applebaum. Some of the topics discussed include the representation of U.S. Latinos in the media, NBC’s decision to air the Spanish language broadcast of the Olympics on Telemundo in overnights and more.

The podcast begins with an interesting interview with David Sternberg, General Manager of Fox Soccer, Fox Sports en Espanol and Fuel TV. The Interview with Robert Rose is a little over 1/2 way through.

http://content.nowlive.com/shows/23461/podcasts/100224512-080818-011219089669.mp3

Jericho’s Nutty Fans Protest Nielsen’s Ratings SystemThe ex-CBS drama Jericho has fallen victim for the second time to cancellation based on inaccurate and antiquated Nielsen ratings. Network TV executives have long been aware of Nielsen’s errors. In 1997, the NY Times reported that Don Ohlmeyer, then president of NBC’s West Coast division, was blunt in his criticism. ”I don’t trust their numbers at all,” he said. ”They’re trying to measure 21st-century technology with an abacus.” http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E2D61739F933A25750C0A961958260

The methodology of TV viewing has changed drastically since then and Nielsen has failed to keep up with the times. Nielsen reported Jericho had a live viewing audience averaging 6 million viewers per week during Season 2. Even if that number had been accurate, it failed to take into account the new media options such as Amazon, Itunes, and even Xbox live downloads. Jericho was consistently in the top ten for downloads as well as the top 15 shows per week reported by DVR. Live DirectTV numbers sharply contradicted the ratings reported by Nielsen. Nielsen also did not factor in the millions of weekly streams for each episode on sites such as Fancast and CBS.com. A CBS executive noted March 18th that the ratings share would be increased almost 1 percentage point had their online viewing numbers alone been factored into the ratings.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=78684

Even without factoring in the new media, Nielsen’s ratings system is inaccurate. The sample of approximately 10,000 homes chosen to represent American homes has many flaws, including the fact that we are estimated to now have at least 100,000,000 televisions in the U.S. You may research more about how Nielsen samples viewing habits here:
http://www.helium.com/items/990477-practically-everyone-heard-terms

Nielsen ratings even leave out most in the largest minority group in America. Jericho fans were proud to have the positive role of Major Beck played by Latino actor Esai Morales. “Just as Nielsen’s inaccuracy at measuring U.S. born Hispanics contributed to the George Lopez Shows’ premature demise on ABC, it could also be a contributing factor to the inaccuracies of Jericho, given Esai Morales’ starring role and big following among young, U.S. Latinos” stated Robert G. Rose, Founder of www.HelpChangeTV.com, a grassroots organization demanding Nielsen Media Research address their inaccuracies and improper sampling of 2nd and 3rd generation Latinos. The number of Latinos excluded by Nielsen are staggering and affect as many as 65% of young Hispanics. Mr. Rose further stated, “Shows such as Ugly Betty or Jericho could conceivably have 20-30% more viewers that are not being counted as a result. For a show that is on the renewal fence, those are precious eyeballs that are not being counted”.

Nielsen has been an unchecked monopoly for years and recently has been reported to be laying off workers and outsourcing the jobs to India, since the 10 year, 1.2 billion dollar outsourcing contract with the Indian corporation TATA began in 1997. Their harsh treatment of American workers has been chronicled here: http://jerichomonster.blogspot.com/ Many in the local community are outraged that the reported tax breaks and grants for local hiring initiatives previously given to Nielsen have instead eliminated many of those jobs or resulted in jobs outsourced to Indian workers.Jericho fans have decided to protest the inaccurate ratings that led to a second cancellation by sending nuts to Nielsen’s ratings center in Oldsmar, Florida.

You can read more by googling “Nuts to Nielsen” and if you want to participate or buy Nuts to Nielsen you can do that here: http://www.mickeyspeanuts.com/index.html Jericho fans have requested that the nuts be donated to a local food bank, in the classy fashion of last year’s delivery of 50,000 pounds of peanuts to CBS studios. The date of the protest and nut delivery is available via inquiry for live coverage.Fans are also working hard to find Jericho a new home by a massive letter writing campaign to possible new homes for the show, sending DVDs to the troops, funding full page ads in Variety Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter , and many other unique initiatives. The recent ad in Variety magazine was also followed by a delivery of Jericho signature peanuts, however, this year they featured the phrases “Save Jericho” and “Nuts to Nielsen” on each pallet of nuts. Read more about Variety’s gracious reaction to the delivery here:
http://weblogs.variety.com/on_the_air/2008/04/jericho-fans-nu.html 

Nielsen’s flaws may have led to Jericho’s second demise but the fans will not go down without a fight. The evolution of Nielsen is required in order to keep it’s monopolistic hold on TV advertisers in the age of new media. It’s own faulty system recently reported that the networks have lost 1 out of every 5 viewers. http://www.showbizdata.com/news/46715/NETWORKS-LOSE-ONE-OUT-OF-FIVE-VIEWERSHave they truly lost 1 out of 5 viewers? Or have they simply lost the ability to count the new tech savvy viewers such as the loyal Jericho fans and left out large segments of our population from consideration of their viewing habits entirely? Jericho Rangers have started a revolution to hopefully bring the show to a new home for season 3 and to provide it with an accurate ratings system to keep it there for years to come.

Event: Nielsen Protest/Nut Delivery from Jericho fansLocation: Oldsmar, Florida
Date: Week of May 12th, time and exact date top secret, but available from contact for live coverage
Contact: jwhitesell@comcast.net

Hmmm.. I wonder why Hispanic Ratings are so skewed to Spanish language TV Despite the fact that most Latinos are U.S. born (65% U.S. Census) watch TV in English (Tomas Rivera)?

Univision and Nielsen have always had a too cozy for comfort relationship and it isn’t a coincidence that Univision has the most to lose should Nielsen ever finally decide to change their methodology from an outdated, head of household, self-reported language “preference” system to a more accurate system based on Nativity (U.S. born / Non U.S. born).

Below is a glaring example of that collusive and corruptive relationship. I commented that the problem with this round of research is:

1) It relies on Head of HH data which doesn’t take into account that 2nd generation Latin teens ARE NOT SPANISH DOMINANT

2) The whole issue of Spanish dominant / English dominant is a farce, since language usage depends on MANY factors

3) Self Reported data is VERY sketchy in the research field.

4) The entire study is shady, sketchy, whatever other adjective you want to use thanks the collaboration with Univision.

Like holding an election in China… the results are sadly predictable and pathetic.

I wonder why they didn’t post my comment?

See below or you can cut and paste the link:

http://www.nielsen.com/consumer_insight/ci_story1.html

Hispanic Fusion – Finally Hitting the Bullseye:
Fusion metrics get a direct hit

By: Ceril Shagrin, Executive Vice President Corporate Research Division, Univision Communications Inc. and Howard Shimmel, SVP, Client Insights, Nielsen Connections

Hot and savory cuisine. Latino music. Spanish television programming. Bilingual product packaging and automated banking services. Hispanics have made ‘ethnic’ mainstream in the U.S. It’s not new news that the U.S. Hispanic population is growing – or that all Hispanics are not alike. In fact, by 2050, non-Hispanic whites will become a minority. According to projections from the Pew Research Center in Washington, nearly one in five Americans will be foreign-born – 29% will be Hispanic and non-Hispanic whites will account for 47% of the population. Asians will grow to 9% and blacks will hold steady at 13%.

So while Hispanic influence and culture is pervasive, why is it that many advertisers are still not getting the message right when addressing this powerful and influential segment? The simple answer is that targeting metrics to date have not encapsulated the full breadth and depth of the Hispanic consumer. That is until now.

A perfect blend
One of the most ubiquitous issue facing advertisers today is optimizing the best mix of general market and Spanish-language television advertising to deliver the best ROI. While there have been existing tools that address this issues from a pure age/sex demographic basis, advances in panel measurement and data integration, primarily through data fusion, now enable advertisers to go beyond the traditional and tackle the matter from a better perspective – the actual marketing target.

To reveal early learnings, Nielsen worked closely with the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision to create a fused database in Los Angeles that integrated general market and Hispanic product sales data from the Nielsen Homescan panel with television viewing data from the Nielsen Local People Meter panel.

The fusion was executed using common household characteristics that are collected from both Homescan and Local People Meter homes. Those characteristics included:

Taking into account the primary language preference in the home, the fusion study was also executed separately for Spanish-dominant Hispanic households, Spanish/English bilingual-dominant, English-dominant and non-Hispanic households.

Quantifiable evidence
Through the fusion process, brand spending for individual products from the Homescan households was combined with TV viewing information from the Local People Meter households resulting in a single respondent record with TV viewing and product sales for each brand and category. In addition, the integration of Homescan’s general market homes with Hispanic homes in Los Angeles enabled the unique ability to measure the share of product sales comprised by Hispanic homes.

This integrated database delivered two powerful applications:

• Evaluation of TV viewing levels, dayparts and specific programs against any marketing target identified through Homescan data using Nielsen NPOWER – Nielsen Media’s core TV ratings analysis system.
• Evaluation of TV reach and frequency analyses against any marketing target identified through Homescan data using IMS Optimax R&F System – IMS’ core TV optimization system.

Powerful insights
To test the waters, so to speak, Nielsen conducted evaluations on three brands – one diet cola brand targeting current users, one regular cola brand targeting heavy users, and one domestic beer brand targeting competitive product users.

Using the cola brand (Cola Brand X) as an example, the power of integrated insights uncovered important nuances that were critical to understanding the target market. To get started, Cola Brand X’s buyer landscape was evaluated by determining what share of Spanish-dominant Hispanics in Los Angeles were heavy users. The analysis uncovered that while Spanish-dominant Hispanics comprised 20% of the Los Angeles market, they encompassed almost 39% of Cola Brand X’s current heavy buyers.

Cola Brand X’s product consumption data was then linked with media data to effectively evaluate TV viewing patterns among heavy users. Comparing the TV viewing of Cola Brand X heavy users with the overall Persons 12+ demographic, it was discovered that viewing patterns were lower across most dayparts, with the difference being as large as nearly 5.5 points during the Sunday 7-8pm time period, indicating a clear need to have a selective TV plan to effectively reach this target.

In addition to understanding viewing patterns by daypart, the link to Nielsen’s TV data provided the opportunity to evaluate ratings by viewing source. In this case, because of the strong contribution of Spanish-dominant households to the overall marketing target, Spanish language television effectively delivers Cola Brand X heavy users.

Hitting the bullseye
The last – and perhaps most important – step in the analysis was the evaluation of reach and frequency of a hypothetical TV campaign to identify the mix of general market and Spanish language TV programming that optimized reach against the specific competitive user marketing target.

The findings revealed that the TV schedule continued to build reach effectively against the Cola Brand X’s current heavy users up to the 25% budget allocation mark. If this evaluation had been executed using the Persons 12+ demographic, the decision might have been made to only allocate 5% of the budget to Spanish language TV, but the evaluation against the marketing target – current Cola Brand X heavy users – shows that there is another six reach points to be gained by moving to a 25% allocation.

It is interesting to note that in addition to the findings revealed in the cola evaluation, the analysis for both the diet cola and beer brands showed similar patterns, in that the share of budget that optimized reach against the brand’s marketing target was directly linked to the share of marketing target that Spanish-dominant Hispanic homes comprised.

Nielsen’s expansion of the Homescan Los Angeles Hispanic Panel to a representative national Total U.S. Hispanic service combined with the launch of the NielsenConnections’ Brand Target Audience will make fusion analyses available nationally for any product category measured in Homescan.

Make it count
Hispanic culture, consumption patterns, trends and advertising exposure have a tremendous influence on brand choices. Boost efforts to understand behavior and lifestyle choices. Build awareness by improving in-store presence, product sampling, local programs and speaking to Hispanics in Spanish. More accurate marketing programs targeted to Hispanics are not only critical now – it is the way of the future.

Univision and Nielsen will continue to partner in learning the most effective ways to use new tools to help advertisers reach their sales goals.

  Nielsen Consumer Insight, March 2008

LATV NETWORKS ACQUIRES AMERICAN LATINO TV,

WIDELY BROADENING SCOPE OF ITS PROGRAMMING, DISTRIBUTION AND ADVERTISING OFFERINGS

 THROUGHOUT THE U.S.

Company Enters Broadcast Syndication Business with Addition of Large Stable of Award-Winning Nationally Distributed Programming  

LOS ANGELES, CA, January 21, 2008 – LATV Networks, LLC (LATV), the nation’s first bilingual music/entertainment network distributed via digital multicast, announced today that it has acquired American Latino TV(ALTV), the syndication and production company for English-language television shows created by and for bicultural/bilingual U.S. Latinos.  The multi-million dollar agreement includes numerous award-winning broadcast syndicated properties such as the weeklies American Latino TV and LatiNation, ALTV’s substantial library of video content as well as the New York City-based production, sales and marketing office.  In addition, the deal marks LATV’s entry into broadcast syndication.

“LATV and American Latino TV have both been at the forefront of shaping the bi-cultural programming marketplace by delivering unique, compelling programming to an ever-growing audience.  The synergies between the two companies made it a natural acquisition for LATV as we continue with our mission of reaching today’s Hispanic youth market,” said Howard Bolter, LATV President and COO.  “This deal will greatly enhance our distribution relationships, complement our programming strategy and increase our viewership domestically and internationally.”

As a consultant for LATV, former ALTV President and Executive Producer Robert Rose, will continue as Executive Producer of the ALTV weeklies, as well as overseeing LATV’s broadcast syndication arm. ALTV Supervising Producer Renzo Devia will also join LATV as a consultant.  Adds Mr. Bolter, “Both Robert and Renzo bring a fresh perspective to LATV and we are thrilled to have them as part of the family.”

“With ALTV joining LATV, the company’s consolidated programming assets and its extensive web strategy give advertisers a unique ability to combine the reach of established broadcast syndication with the frequency of a rapidly-growing digital broadcast network,” said Mr. Rose.  “It is a win across the board for our affiliates, advertisers, staffers and most importantly, our audience.”

ALTV produces, markets and distributes high-quality, award-winning, original content focusing on U.S.-born Latinos and is the oldest and largest television syndication company targeting Latinos with culturally relevant, English-language television programming and media. ALTV’s programming includes American Latino TV, LatiNation, and the American Latino Presents quarterly, one-hour specials including the American Latino TV Awards.    

American Latino TV is an award-winning program currently in its sixth season and with broadcast distribution in over 102 cities and 76 million homes representing almost 70 percent of all television homes and over 90 percent of U.S. Hispanic homes. LatiNation is in its fourth season with distribution in over 90 cities, representing over 85 percent of U.S. Hispanic homes.

About LATV:

Headquartered in Los Angeles, LATV is the nation’s first bilingual entertainment/music network distributed via digital multicast.  A pioneer in bicultural youth broadcasting, LATV has been in the Los Angeles market since 2001 and launched nationally on April 23, 2007.  Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc. is an investor in the national network and has a minority ownership interest in the Company as well as a seat on its Board of Directors.  Targeting the 18- to 34-year-old Latino, LATV’s programming bouquet offers a range of content that includes multi-genre music, lifestyle and entertainment.  The network is ad-supported and offers an array of programming that is original and exclusive.   For more information, visit LATV online at www.latv.com.

NOTE FROM Robert Rose:
A special thanks to John Greenbaum of Joyma Consulting for assisting in putting together this deal.

You can learn more about Joyma Consulting at www.JoymaConsulting.com or by emailing Jmgreenbaum@joymaconsulting.com.

Here is an email I received from someone who commented on Nielsen’s strange relationship with people they really should only be supplying research for. Instead they hire them. Its sort of like big corporations donating to political campaigns.. or no, better.. Obama, Hillary or Rudy giving you a job in exchange for your support.. or Hugo Chavez putting most of Venezuela on the government’s payroll in order to “win” the “election” and remain in power. Its not good for governments and its not good business either.

Here is the Email form a concerned TV Industry insider:

Is it just me or does this scream “conflict of interest” to you as well? How can an independent monitoring and ratings company engage in this type of partnering with a vendor? This would appear on the surface to be another effort to skew Hispanic/Latino measurement to over-index against Spanish-dominant media consumers.

So Nielsen creates “cover” for the participating advertisers and Todobebe serves as a recruitment tool for Spanish-dominant consumers. Can deal making like this actually lead to objective reporting on the U.S. Hispanic media consumer?

FROM www.HispanicAd.com 1/17/08

The Nielsen Company and Todobebe, Inc. announced an agreement to collaborate and provide key measurements for Todobebe’s upcoming Viva la Familia Fiestas, a national celebration of motherhood and the Hispanic family organized by one of the world’s leading Hispanic parenting brands.

As part of the agreement, Nielsen will provide Todobebe and participating advertisers with audited data about the event hosts and the guest participants. Todobebe will also promote The Nielsen Company and its services for Hispanic ratings participation among its Viva la Familia Fiestas audiences.

Celebrating the Hispanic family, the Todobebe Viva la Familia Fiestas feature a sixty-day media campaign generating over 30M consumer impressions via national TV, radio DJ endorsements, online promotions and direct mail.

National PR activities include special celebrity appearances with Todobebe hosts Aracely Arambula, Karen Martinez and Jeannette Kaplun and center around making “family miracles” happen. These events, coupled with promotional sweepstakes and contests, generate buzz before, during and after the parties.

On the day of the event, April 26, 2008, 10,000 celebrating moms will hold simultaneous parties for over 100,000 of their friends and family members. Together, the united parents will create the largest known party held on a single day in over 150 cities, specifically dedicated to celebrating the Hispanic family.

“This relationship presents an opportunity for both companies to leverage their respective strengths in order to reach and measure this dynamic and growing market, “said Cynthia Nelson, Todobebe’s Chief Operating Officer.

“As Nielsen continues to grow its measurements of the Hispanic consumer, part of our mission is to inform the community about who we are, what we do and the importance of accurately measuring television viewing behavior,” said Monica Gil, Vice President of Communications and Community Affairs, The Nielsen Company. “Our agreement with Todobebe will have an important role in strengthening and expanding our relationships with the Hispanic communities.”