To the point: Avanti Dilettanti

The invitation text to today's Mediapulse media conference was still promising:

"Switzerland has had a new, modern television measurement panel since this year. After initial difficulties in data preparation, the first data from the new Mediapulse TV panel are now available. How does the medium of TV present itself in the light of the new measurement? We present the first results from the new TV panel and look back at the setup and the reasons for the delays in January. For the first time, we will present figures on consumption of time-shifted TV and TV consumption via computer."

But things turned out quite differently. Chairman Marco de Stoppani had to announce today that certain customers (broadcasters and marketers) had major concerns about the plausibility of the results. The differences to the 2012 data were considerable. The customers therefore demanded an external expertise. Until this new expertise is available, which should be the case at the beginning of March, Mediapulse is not allowed to publish any figures. For understandable reasons, de Stoppani did not want to say who had exerted pressure. He only said that it had come "from various sources, verbally and in writing, and also from lawyers. Legal steps had not yet been initiated, but were in prospect. The Board of Directors buckled and unanimously decided that no figures could be published before the new expert report was available. However, it is interesting to note that both broadcasters and marketers have the current figures at their disposal and will continue to be supplied with them. So it shouldn't be long before they are published somewhere. All the more so since no contractual penalty has been agreed. So the tragedy continues.

Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief Werbewoche

Quota debacle - new measurement system under review (February 19, 2013)

Teaser image: Keystone