StarHub launches PeopleMeter alternative

StarHub Cable has commissioned Nielsen Media Research to launch a new cable TV tracking service, which it hopes to position as the de facto cable TV currency in Singapore. The Cable TV Virtual Diary (V-Diary) is a statistically modeled service of yesterday cable viewership, using the same respondents that participate in the Nielsen Media Index. The launch means that PeopleMeter ratings data will remain off-limits to media agencies in Singapore; TNS has been disallowed from releasing these figures to agencies for the past two years. "(V-Diary) is not as sophisticated as PeopleMeter," said one media agency head on condition of anonymity. "But perhaps it benefits (StarHub)."