Networks, Media Agencies Teaming Up To Take On Nielsen

It would seem that just about everybody is up in arms about the Nielsen ratings system, saying it doesn’t accurately represent the shows that a lot of people like, the data is simple inaccurate, or it just don’t matter in this age of DVRs, iTunes, streaming sites like Hulu, and DVDs.

Now it looks like the networks have had enough and are giving some thought to providing an alternative. CBS, NBC, Disney, News Corp, Discovery, Time Warner, Viacom, and major media buying agencies (GroupM, and MediaVest) are in talks to have some sort of plan on what the “consortium” will do by the end of September. A senior executive at Starcom MediaVest, one of the companies involved, says that they don’t necessarily want to replace Nielsen but there’s no reason why another company can’t “come in and do both [TV measurement and digital measurement]”

Update: Jeff Jarvis has a little more on the Nielsen revolt.