Exchange Ratings?
But you can't calculate ratings the way you used to. More and more people are watching video on the Internet, and there is a growing consensus that web video is the future – Google's $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube, a company with no earnings, certainly makes for a compelling Exhibit A. Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, "the race is on for research firms to figure out a standard way to measure audiences across different media" – including, in addition to the Web, platforms like iPods and mobile phones.
The "Evening News," for example, is Webcast live on CBSNews.com, but there is no outside entity determining the number of online viewers. CBS News has the data, but it does not release it publicly (though they do share it with advertisers). The challenge for research firms, says the WSJ, is in large part technological, as they haven't yet mastered the art of measuring video streams. And it's an increasing problem as more and more networks turn to the Web with their eye on ad dollars. Nielsen Media Research is developing a new system that tracks viewers across many platforms, but it's at least a year away. Which means that networks and advertisers, for now, are stuck with new media ratings figures a lot less trustworthy than they would like.