NBCU/Nielsen Combine Metrics for New Measure

NBCU and Nielsen have agreed to combine research forces in a deal that will create a new TV/media research product, culled from Nielsen’s ratings service and its VideoCensus service, along with data of consumer purchases in a variety of categories and insight from NBCU.

The new measure has been dubbed Fusion, and will correlate viewing habits on-air and online with purchasing behavior to get a better handle on return on investment, writes Broadcasting & Cable.

Some analysts say this looks like a less expensive form of the now defunct Project Apollo, which hit the skids when advertisers deemed it to expensive to participate, MediaPost points out.

NBCU president of research Alan Wurtzel says the network doesn’t plan to get rid of ratings. On the other hand, “We know our clients are looking for ways to be more granular and to be more efficient.”

The new project is seen as potentially being a first step in creating a new television currency, but Wurtzel says that is too strong a word. “All this stuff is hard. Fusion is obviously a compromise. All we are saying is that we’d love to get them to another level with new metrics.”