Sofres wins TV contract in Singapore

<p>Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) has been awarded the contract for </p><p>television audience measurement in Singapore by The Media Corporation of </p><p>Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>TNS - a shareholder of CVSC-Sofres-Media (CSM) in China - won the </p><p>business after beating out incumbent, ACNielsen, and strong </p><p>international competition in the form of AGB Italia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>TNS' contract will run for five years starting from January 2001, with </p><p>the company assigned to measure television viewing habits among 750 </p><p>households in the Lion City. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The company won the contract after demonstrating that it could </p><p>effectively cover both digital as well as analog viewing and out-of-home </p><p>viewing. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Having the ability to monitor what programmes were being viewed and </p><p>when through PeopleMeters and also the ability to measure viewership </p><p>when viewers are out of home, that is in hotels or restaurants or pubs </p><p>through Portable PeopleMeters built into a wristwatch made the </p><p>difference," a TNS spokesperson told MEDIA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>TNS executive director Mike Kirkham described Singapore as "important" </p><p>to the group's overall regional ambitions and said the win "strengthens </p><p>the group's international presence in television audience </p><p>measurement". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The contract, however, deals a major blow to ACNielsen, which has been </p><p>at the forefront of PeopleMeter technology and television measurement in </p><p>Asia-Pacific - not just in Singapore - over the past five years. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It is also the latest set-back for ACNielsen, which has come under </p><p>strong competitive pressure from CSM - TNS' joint venture arm in China - </p><p>over the past year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>CSM has challenged ACNielsen's dominance of the China television viewing </p><p>market by recently launching a PeopleMeter monitoring service in </p><p>Shanghai. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This is on top of existing services that were also recently rolled out </p><p>in Guangzhou and Beijing. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Although ACNielsen's coverage in China is still more extensive, CSM has </p><p>begun to erode its rival's marketshare. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Kirkham said of the China drive: "We are fast extending our metred </p><p>service nationwide in China to serve the burgeoning Chinese media </p><p>industry." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>TNS is also rolling out 2,700 PeopleMeter panels in Taiwan, three times </p><p>more than the number ACNielsen has in place. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Daily ratings reports will be available from the second quarter of next </p><p>year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It is believed that television media owners in Taiwan are pushing for </p><p>the TNS ratings because ACNielsen's set-up of 1,000 PeopleMeter panels </p><p>is deemed to be insufficient. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>