The Paine of Measurement

Memo To Congress:
Stay Out of My Bedroom,
Stay Out of My Business

The New Hampshire state motto is "Live Free or Die" and we've always been a bit more independent up here. Not that we're all libertarians mind you (for the record we did go blue in 2004) but we just don't think that the government should play that big a role in our lives.

So it was particularly annoying to read that a group of Republican legislators was introducing a bill that would essentially make media research a regulated industry. The bill is being pushed by Fox lobbyists. Fox has of course had a tendency to be more favorable to Republicans and the Republican agenda. So it should come as no surprise that the Republicans are returning the favor.

The bill would require Nielsen to check with an industry group before it made any changes in its ratings technology or methodology. Now granted, Nielsen has had an abnormally strong influence over media since it started measuring radio in the 1940s. But that's nothing that a free market can't fix. And in fact, Nielsen's influence is already waning. Unless it can get its new people metering technology off the ground and widely accepted, it's a doomed dinosaur.

The bigger questions are: What are the long term implications of a congressionally controlled "industry advisory board" reviewing media research? Will there come a day when Congress comes in and investigates our methodology because Lockheed or Exxon doesn't like the research report that we or Cymfony or Biz360 or Echo or NOP or anyone else provides?

Let's get this nonsense stopped now. Contact your local senator and/or the bill's sponsors Conrad Burns, George Allen, Mel Martinez and Olympia Snow.

(Ed's note: Katie Paine posted a rant similar to the above on her blog, and received this comment.)

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