The CRE's follow-up study to its 2013 "Talking Social TV" study of the relationship of social media use and TV viewing has just been accepted by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) for its March ReThink conference. The follow-up study focused on the 2013 New Fall TV Season and allowed for a three-week versus a one-week time frame.

The CRE recently fielded its latest survey of Nielsen clients – its first since 2010 -- canvassing clients for their views on industry priorities for 2014 and of the work of the CRE. Some clear direction emerged:

• Nielsen clients want to see improvement in digital measurement (89% of respondents cited this as a priority) and in total campaign measurement, or aligning impressions across platforms (88%).

• Other top priorities included: the impact of mobile and digital technology on media use (cited by 83%); the user experience across video platforms (82%); the application of Big Data and analytic techniques to audience measurement (74%); further set-top-box study (73%); the changing demographics of the USA (73%); and the impact of social media on purchasing decisions (71%).

In terms of survey responses to questions about the work of the CRE, the results were largely gratifying: 83% of respondents indicated awareness of the CRE, up from 66% of respondents to the 2010 survey; 78% of respondents agreed the CRE was "a valuable resource to the industry," up from 63% in 2010.

However, only 35% of respondents said the CRE "does a good job communicating about its work with clients" – indicating the need for significant improvement. The CRE intends to re-focus efforts in this area in 2014.

We also invite readers to submit their opinions and views regarding ways in which the CRE can improve its communication with clients. Please feel free to email us ([email protected]) or to express your views via our LinkedIn Group page.

Respondents weighed in on myriad additional questions and topics. The complete survey results will be made available on the CRE site (www.researchexcellence.com) in early 2014.

The CRE plans to host a February 11, 2014 event for Nielsen clients to explore questions of quality in the use of Big Data.

CRE Big Data Committee is chaired by Stacey Schulman, Senior Vice President and Chief Research Officer for the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB).

Nielsen clients will receive an email with details on the gathering. Key takeaways from the discussion will be included in a subsequent newsletter and posted to our web site.

The CRE's Digital Committee, under current chair Cheryl Brink, VP, Digital Research & Analytics at Scripps Networks, has launched its previously announced ethnographic studies to understand the impact of internet technology and video platform proliferation on video viewing practices.

Participating with the Digital Committee is the CRE's Media Consumption & Engagement Committee, chaired by Laura Cowan, Research Director of LIN Media; their respective committees are overseeing various aspects of the two-year effort.

The CRE has retained GfK for the studies, which are designed to help researchers understand the impact of increased video availability across a growing number of devices and how people think about and consume video.

The research teams will seek to determine how audience measurement needs to evolve to take into account increased complexity in viewing. This includes variables by device, usage location, viewing circumstances (such as solitary vs. group viewing), demographics and lifestyle factors. The studies will encompass viewing via TV sets, PCs/laptops, connected TVs (gaming consoles, smart TVs, set-top-boxes, wi-fi enabled devices), smart phones, tablets, personal gaming devices and DVRs.

In addition to monitoring consumption of TV content on C3 distribution platforms the studies will capture use of subscription VOD, paid viewing of single videos (TVOD), and viewing of clips (both professional and UGC). Researchers may also study consumption of non-video content if video advertising proliferates within certain content types, such as photo galleries. An objective is to better understand the implications for measurement of video ad impressions over time, both in and out of home.

The studies encompass a two-year ethnography and a supplemental "acceleration" study to examine potential future consumer behavior. The GfK research team will seek to uncover consumer decision-making about rapidly evolving technologies by accelerating adoption of the newest devices.

Researchers will visit each of some 150 participating households at least once. In many of the homes, researchers will use small "fisheye"-lens cameras to record behavior, later tagging interesting video footage. Participants also will be provided a video-journal "toolkit" including software enabling them to record their viewing habits.

Updates will be provided in future newsletters as developments warrant.

The CRE's Social Media Committee is now out of the field with the follow-up to its 2013 "Talking Social TV" study. The findings of its first study were presented at a number of events during spring and summer 2013 and can be found on the CRE website. For this latest study, researchers collected data for three weeks, compared to a one-week period for the prior study. The CRE expects to announce findings of the new study in the first quarter.

The CRE's Insights to Practice Committee, chaired by Nancy Gallagher, Senior Vice President, News, Sports and Affiliate Research at NBC Universal, will be issuing reports to the full Council on the CRE's 2013 studies "TV Untethered" and "Talking Social TV." The reports are expected to be posted to the CRE site by year-end. Insights to Practice works with Nielsen to inform its research practices, products and services with the practical learnings from the CRE's various studies.

The CRE has begun a committee for the study of the effects of commercial pod length. The committee, chaired by Hadassa Gerber, Director of Research for the Syndicated Network Television Association (SNTA), expects to begin its inaugural research effort in 2014.

We're pleased to welcome back Judy Vogel, Vice President of Research at Gannett Company, Inc.; Michael Nathanson, Senior Research Analyst at MoffettNathanson, LLC; and Bryon Schafer, Senior Vice President of Research at Warner Bros. Television. All three were prior CRE members while with other companies, and were re-admitted at the CRE's December quarterly meeting.

The Steering Committee of the CRE voted to approve the establishment of a $30,000 scholarship in the name of Susan Whiting, at her alma mater Denison University. Susan, who will be retiring from her position as vice chair at Nielsen at year-end, was instrumental in the creation of the CRE in 2005.

The CRE welcomes its newest members:

More than 500 research professionals and others throughout the media and advertising industries are regularly sharing news and viewpoints on the Council for Research Excellence LinkedIn Group.

Join us on Twitter as well – @CREtalk – where we provide news, views and updates on the CRE and all things audience research.