NBCUniversal vs. Nielsen: Round 3

And the heat gets turned up a little more. The Wrap’s Tony Maglio writes about more shots fired Nielsen’s way from the NBCUniversal camp…

You better step your game up, Nielsen — because other TV ratings options are gunning for your gig.

NBC Research President Alan Wurtzel endorsed three alternatives to Nielsen on Wednesday, as the industry’s leading audience-measurement company has been considered antiquated and slow to adapt for quite a while — but has remained the top dog thanks to no real competition.
Wurtzel told critics and reporters in attendance to pay attention to the following options: Symphony Advanced Media, TiVo/Reality Mine and Rentrak/ComScore.

Wurtzel praised the first two Nielsen alternatives for providing true cross-platform measurement and requiring no third party intermediary. Symphony, which uses audio recognition via a consumer’s cell phone microphone, specifically is “generating industry interest,” he said.