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Nielsen to use watermarks to enhance local channel rating accuracy
While we're watching our favorite shows in HD, it's easy to forget that they live and die by ratings, and those ratings aren't always collected with the latest technology. In an effort to improve the sample size and accuracy of ratings for local TV channels, Nielsen is starting to roll out a hybrid technology consisting of watermarks and return data from supporting pay-TV provider's set-top boxes, like DirecTV and Charter. The first three markets to get the upgrade are St. Louis, Dallas and Charlotte, with 17 yet to be announced markets to follow in 2013, and finally, the remaining 190 about two years after that. The system will work in parallel with the older Local People Meters and Diaries for three to six months and will lay the groundwork to collect ratings for online, tablets and other platforms. All the inside industry details and more are in the release after the break.
Sezmi looks to provide alternative for cable / satellite, confuse everyone
In case you're not content with just keeping your current cable / satellite / fiber TV service and using the recently launched ZvBox to pull in content from the web, a new startup is aiming to satisfy your bizarre desires. In what's potentially the most befuddling launch of the year, said firm is looking to introduce its 1TB set-top-box to consumers on a city-by-city basis. Put simply (or, as simply as possible), the box will fetch content from a number of places: the built-in OTA receiver will grab locals, and it will use the owner's broadband internet connection to snag IPTV material and web-based content (YouTube, Hulu, etc.). Sezmi plans to launch the product with "3G and DSL" telcos that don't currently have a way to offer a triple-play package, and while some sources say that monthly fees will be as low as "half" of a typical cable / satellite bill, we've also seen Phil Wiser, co-founder, chairman and president, quoted as saying that it will be "roughly comparable" to its rivals. Hit up the links below for loads more info, and join us as we sit back and wait for this entirely-too-complex endeavor to implode. [Via PC Magazine]
