There is still a good bit of confusion and controversy out there regarding Nielsen’s Live + 3 ratings. TVBR talked with Pat Liguori, ABC O&O Stations SVP/Research & Electronic Measurement and board member of the Council for Research Excellence, a bit about some of the issues surrounding Live + 3 and what ABC’s stand is regarding it:
What are the biggest controversies right now regarding Live + 3 Day ratings?
First, there’s perception. It’s important to understand that local market “Live +3 Days” is not the same as national “C3” data. The former looks at program ratings, while the latter reflects commercial ratings. Both buyers and sellers must resist the temptation to apply national’s program-to-commercial indices to local Live+3 ratings. Local markets have unique profiles that more often than not differ from the Total U.S. profile in terms of age, presence of cable or satellite, race, Hispanic origin and other characteristics. That a particular network is # 1 on a national basis doesn’t mean that its affiliates all are # 1 in their respective markets. Point is, a local market isn’t national’s “Mini Me.” As such, measures of national performance should not be adjusted, applied or projected to the local level.
Next is acceptance. The biggest hurdle facing Live+3 is for it to be accepted and used in the buy-sell process. Currently, buyers of Local People Meter (LPM) markets continue to demand Live Only ratings. Live Only is the data stream with the lowest tuning levels and, therefore, the one with which buyers believe they’ll get the best pricing for their clients. But here’s the problem: Live Only data increasingly is a less representative barometer of who’s tuning as well as who’s available to tune. Live Only paints an incomplete – and potentially inaccurate – picture because its ratings only include tuning to a program within 25 seconds of when that program started to air. There may be ten M25-54 viewing an 8pm program, but if three of them are viewing on a 25+ seconds delayed basis, they will not be included in Live Only ratings. This gives the mistaken impression that fewer M25-54 are viewing that 8pm program. Live+3 paints a more complete picture of program audiences than does Live Only.
Where do you and ABC stand?
Live+3 provides the balance and fairness that’s been missing since the introduction of Live Only data a few years ago. Stations around the country are delivering rating points that agencies are conveniently dismissing with the argument that there’s little or no value to time-shifted audiences. While some products are time-sensitive, there are many, many more that aren’t. We always hear the argument that there’s no value if the ad is seen after the sale, but has anyone considered that playback could occur (and thus an ad could be viewed) closer to time when the consumer actually shops? At the very least, Live+3 should be used for any ad that’s not time-sensitive and for which playback occurs within the flight.
What should be changed, what should remain the same?
Nielsen needs to stop producing Live Only data, which is at best meaningless and at worst misleading. Many clients aren’t aware that Live Only excludes anyone who’s in front of a set that’s on, but is tuned to pre-recorded television content or content being viewed on a delayed basis of at least 25 seconds. They don’t know that Live Only can’t tell an advertiser, programmer, scheduler, planner or buyer who and how many people or households RIGHT NOW are in front of a TV that’s on. They don’t know that Live Only can’t provide complete and accurate audience composition of a program or time period. As I said before, Live Only is at best meaningless and at worst misleading, and will become even more so as DVR penetration continues to grow.
