NBCU is "committing to weaning itself off the single commercial currency that has dominated the TV advertising marketplace for decades," according to Jeanine Poggi of AD AGE. NBCU this morning in N.Y. "gathered top industry leaders across media and marketing" to "address some of the biggest issues plaguing the industry." NBCU Chair of Ad Sales & Client Partnerships Linda Yaccarino "did not mention Nielsen by name," but Nielsen ratings have "long been the industry's dominant currency." Yaccarino has previously been "vocal about the need to move away from buying and selling ads based on Nielsen age and sex demographics." She has said that they "don't tell the whole story." Yaccarino and other TV ad sales leaders have been "focusing their efforts on metrics that reflect more targeted data and measure success by returns on investment." Yaccarino "implored those in attendance" to "use the notecards at their table to write down one thing they or their company can do to 'help fix and change this mess that we are in'" (ADAGE.com, 11/28). VARIETY's Brian Steinberg notes among those spotted in N.Y. this morning were GroupM Global CEO Irwin Gotlieb, Turner President David Levy and ESPN President of Global Sales & Marketing Ed Erhardt. Tech has "granted couch potatoes a dizzying array of new ways to unhitch themselves from their traditional TV set -- and the media buyers and sellers can’t agree upon a standard set of rules governing how ads are placed in emerging venues like mobile screens and streaming video, nor can they reach consensus on how to measure the viewers who watch them." Participants in N.Y. were "scheduled to hear from" NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and IBM CMO Michelle Peluso about "how to reach consumers using multiple forms of media" (VARIETY.com, 11/28).
