Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) Introduces New Lexicon for Set-Top Box Measurement

May 12, 2010

NEW YORK – May 12, 2010 – The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) today introduced the CIMM Set-Top Box (STB) Lexicon, a common set of more than 800 terms for use in analyzing and processing STB measurement.

Available at https://cimm.wpengine.com/lexicon.htm, the CIMM STB Lexicon will provide a shared, foundational language to inform CIMM’s forthcoming STB pilot projects. The Lexicon will also support broader industry innovation and collaboration among end users of STB data, including television content providers, media agencies, and advertisers.

“Analysis of set-top box data remains in its formative stages, and getting to the next level in data collection, aggregation, and measurement will require that everyone in the industry speaks the same language,” said Jane Clarke, Managing Director, CIMM. “With the CIMM STB Lexicon, we’re providing a strong foundation for cross-industry collaboration around set-top box data as it becomes increasingly available.”

“We are delighted that CIMM has been so active in addressing the critical common language gap for STB,” said Kate Sirkin, Executive Vice President and Global Research Director for Starcom MediaVest Group. “We believe this will allow all suppliers and data owners to provide a more actionable product to the marketplace and inspire users to really start to integrate insights from the data into their day-to-day plans and buys for their clients.”

The CIMM STB Lexicon covers terms and definitions for actions, business units, data types, ad and program formats, hardware, software, indicators, measurement and metrics related to STB data. CIMM submitted the Lexicon for review to more than 30 companies and organizations, including cable, satellite, and telco distributors, hardware and software companies, and industry associations. CIMM will continue to solicit feedback from across the industry to edit and expand the Lexicon as STB measurement evolves.

Media research consultant Charlene Weisler authored the STB Lexicon, drawing from the RFIs submitted by data and technology providers. Weisler worked closely with Clarke, the companies that submitted RFIs, and the CIMM STB Working Committee.

About CIMM

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) was founded by several leading television content providers, media agencies and advertisers to promote innovation in audience measurement for television and cross-platform video. CIMM will explore and identify new methodologies and approaches to audience measurement through a series of pilot studies with independent measurement companies focusing on two key areas: the current and future potential of television measurement through set-top-box data, and new methods for cross-platform media measurement.

Current participants are: AT&T, Belo, CBS Corporation, Carat USA, Comcast Networks, ConAgra, Discovery Communications, Gannett, GroupM, Hearst, Interpublic Group’s Mediabrands, Microsoft, NBC Universal, News Corporation, Omnicom Media Group, P&G, PepsiCo, Starcom MediaVest Group Worldwide, Time Warner, Unilever, Viacom and The Walt Disney Company.

Contacts

Liz Fischer – NBC Universal – 212.664.4825 – liz.fischer@nbcuni.com

Mark Jafar – MTV Networks – 212.846.8961 – mark.jafar@mtvstaff.com

Elissa Johansmeier – Fox – 212.556.2567 – elissa.johnsmeier@fox.com

Scott Grogin – Fox – 310.369.4733 – scott.grogin@fox.com