Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said his company is working with
Nielsen and others to provide measurement of viewers consuming programming on
platforms other than the television set.
Dauman, speaking at the 40th annual UBS Media and
Communications conference in New York Monday, said that with its young viewers,
Viacom stands to cash in if viewing online and on mobile devices gets counted.
"We are going to benefit enormously in particular from
measurement of viewing on other devices because our audiences are the ones who
are spending incremental time...on other platforms," he said. "That's not
officially monetized right now because it's not officially measured."
Dauman said Dauman has been working with research companies
on systems to measure multiplatform viewing. "I'm more encouraged that I've
been that we're going to get there. Whether it's Nielsen or somebody else, they
have to catch up with the reality of how people are enjoying entertainment," he
said. "We've already entertain a lot of discussions with advertisers about how
to capture the entire viewing of our brands and our shows. So we expect we'll
start seeing some movement as we get into this coming year."
Dauman also said that Viacom continues to invest in content.
Spending on programming is usually up by mid-single digits but will be up by
high single digits this year as Viacom tries to turn around some of its
networks.
Dauman said the company's investments in programming are
already paying off in improved ratings at Nickelodeon as well as at MTV, two
channels that have been struggling. "You've been seeing the turning point for
Nickelodeon," he said. At the same time MTV has a new hit in Catfish and that newly appointed MTV
Entertainment president Susanne Daniels will ensure that the progress is not
disruptive.
"She will oversee what is already a vibrant pipeline of both
scripted and reality programming," he said.
Internationally, Dauman said that Viacom is looking to
expand its overseas footprint by rolling out the Paramount Network, which also
appeals to a more adult viewer than MTV or Nickelodeon.
