Posted on: Thursday, June 16, 2005

Plan targets TV-viewer habits

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Oceanic Time Warner Cable is considering a plan that would allow the company to track the individual viewing habits of 5,000 to 6,000 customers.

Under the plan, which has yet to be finalized, customers could volunteer to have their tube-watching monitored via a digital set-top box. London-based Taylor Nelson Sofres Plc., a market research company, and Time Warner Cable are still working out details of the plan, said Oceanic President Nate Smith.

The pilot project would be among the first by a U.S. cable operator and will gauge viewership of advertising and help to fine-tune the cable company's programming decisions, Smith said. TNS is eyeing Hawai'i because unlike many Mainland markets, the state is dominated by one cable service — Oceanic. Ultimately, TNS would likely offer a TV-viewing ratings service that could compete with ratings powerhouse ACNielson.

Oceanic already can track viewing data in the aggregate, but not on an individual basis, Smith said.

Smith said he doesn't think Oceanic will have a problem finding volunteers willing to have their TV habits tracked.

"It would solely be on an opt-in basis," he said. "There's some sort of empowerment there. I think some people like the idea that they're influencing programming."

Oceanic's service is available in about 540,000 homes in Hawai'i and the company has 397,000 subscribers. Oceanic hopes to have the system up soon. "With any luck we'll find out in the not too distant future," Smith said.

TNS met this year with local advertisers and broadcasters to discuss its plans.

Mike Rosenberg, general manager of KITV, welcomed the entry of a competitor to ACNielson. "There's no doubt that sometime in the future that something like this system gives you research that gets you to more accurate numbers," he said.

Reach Sean Hao at 525-8093 or shao@honoluluadvertiser.com