[ Spring 2010 ]

For Vancouver Olympics, NBCU Relies on Knowledge Networks Cross-Media Data

NBC Universal (NBCU) selected Knowledge Networks (KN) to participate in their "Billion Dollar Olympic Research Lab" initiative to provide insight into consumer use of NBCU's content from the Olympic Winter Games, providing next-day information about 14 properties, including broadcast and cable networks, Internet sites, and mobile Web sites.

In 2009, Knowledge Networks and NBCU were co-winners of a Case Study Award from CTAM (Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing) for similar research about the 2008 Beijing Games. NBCU's Horst Stipp (Senior Vice President of Strategic Insights and Innovation) and KN's David Tice (Vice President & Group Account Director, Media Team) were on hand to present findings from their research – as they did at the ARF annual convention in 2009.

"Research about our Vancouver Olympics media work is one of our most important initiatives of 2010," said Stipp, "and we are pleased to have the accuracy and thoroughness of KN's approach as a centerpiece of these efforts."

Knowledge Networks provides a scalable, single-source solution known as TotalTouchSM, assessing consumer exposure and reactions to Olympics media. TotalTouchSM leverages interviews with members of KN's KnowledgePanel® – the only online panel based on a representative sample of the full U.S. population. KN will complete about 500 interviews per day for eleven of the 17 days of the Winter Olympics.

A flexible multiplatform method

The method developed by KN for NBCU can easily be adapted for any media stakeholder that is trying to measure and understand a multiplatform media execution. It is a single source measurement of all major media, with the ability to determine cross-media audiences. Adapting methods of the Total Touch ilk can provide learning about:

• how Internet use was correlated to TV use,
• how unduplicated reach could be extended by adding media to a "TV-only" buy, and
• the actual size of the proverbial "two-screen" and "three-screen" audiences.

In particular, the use of this adaptable methodology addresses two important needs in understanding multiplatform media events:

• out-of-home use, and
• how much audiences of different media overlap.

These are particularly important given the circumstances of use of newer digital media (broadband while at work, or mobile while commuting or otherwise in transit) and the perceptions of their use (does making online video available cannibalize regular TV? This was not true in 2008). At this time, currency measures are not as strong in measurement of out-of-home use, either by virtue of sample used or if it's even something measured. And there is the need for measurement across major media that allows calculation of audience cumes, duplication, and exclusivity among a significantly sized, representative audience sample.

Fielding and reporting

The 2010 Olympics Total Touch survey is being sent to a separate sample for each day of the 11 days of fielding, starting on February 14 (to measure Feb. 13 Olympic media use) and ending on March 1 (to measure Feb 18, the last day of the Olympics). On average, we plan to complete about 600 interviews per day with KN panelists age 18-64, with a cooperation rate among the assigned sample of 30%.

Implementation of the survey has been very successful so far, especially when considering that each day's survey is only open for 22 hours. We believe this performance is in large part because of KN's ongoing relationship with its panelists, and the high enthusiasm for the 2010 Games – carrying over from Beijing – is also an important factor.

As planned, reports are generated from a beta version of the tabulator by KN and delivered to NBCU research by COB of the day following each day of field. Delivery to NBCU of a final version of the tabulator will be made approximately four weeks following the end of the Olympics.