CEO Speaks: The Rating Game

(2 of 2)

SW: The combination of what media were you exposed to and therefore what products you bought.

TIME: How close is Nielsen to that?

SW: In Project Apollo, people scan all their product purchases and also have a PPM that keeps track of what media they're exposed to. In the same group of households, we're looking at both things. The test should continue through the summer.

TIME: What do you think the future of advertising will look like?

SW: Some clients say that commercials will get shorter, down to five seconds, and longer, to grab your attention--not your typical 30-second commercial. They're doing more product placement in programming. They might sponsor the whole show without any traditional ads. How [content] gets distributed and how advertising might get wrapped around it--we'll see a lot of experiments and a lot of change.

TIME: Will television ever become obsolete?

SW: It will evolve. People still seem to want the entertainment and relaxation value of TV, but competition for screens is already happening.