Abstract:

The intermedia watch has been discussed since 1987 and it was often seen as a myth. However, the production of a wearable passive device for recording television, radio, and print audiences is finally ready for a technology demonstration. This presentation will demonstrate the broadcast aspect of the intermedia watch. It is the premise of this paper that in the U.S. there cannot be a single measurement tool for all media until we have a breakthrough in the measurement of television and its' current push-button personal meter. The reason is economics. Television gets the lion's (though declining) share of the dollars. And the Coca Cola's, P&G's, and Kraft General Foods' who dominate the spending of advertising dollars in the USA are trying to manage a fragmenting media effort. The personal meter for television, radio and magazine leads directly to a TRUE single source measurement of most media exposure and most purchasing. The attraction of electronic single source measurement is due to the problems created by respondent human memory and interviewer human error. To be meaningful, any improvements in metering must raise the response rate of a television meter sample from its current low levels (37% of the predesignated randomly selected sample) by simplifying the task of obtaining respondent cooperation.