Alan Wurtzel

NBC Research President Alan Wurtzel laid out a stat-heavy case for the notion that the pace of change, the accelerating advances of technology, shifts in consumer attitudes and the mainstreaming of new behaviors has effectively dramatically and quickly the TV business.

While conventional wisdom has it that broadcast TV is on the ropes thanks to Netflix and other SVOD outlets, NBC’s ratings guru made a strong case for his network’s continued resiliency during a “reality check” about the state of the current media environment at the Television Critic Association’s winter press tour. To make his point, Wurtzel shared data from Symphony Advanced Media, which has been tracking Netflix ratings metrics for the notoriously tight-lipped streaming service.

NBC Research President Alan Wurtzel endorsed three alternatives to Nielsen on Wednesday, as the industry’s leading audience-measurement company has been considered antiquated and slow to adapt for quite a while — but it’s remained top dog thanks to no real competition. Wurtzel told critics and reporters in attendance to pay attention to the following options: Symphony Advance Media, TiVo/Reality Mine and Rentrak/ComScore.

As the final weekend of the London Olympic Games approaches, Alan Wurtzel, president of research and media development at NBCUniversal, talks about how the London games have done so far, and revealed some of the more surprising research findings

We may not be able to put a moratorium on new media, but we can incorporate it into the time-shifting and TV everywhere solutions that capitalize on the changes in consumer behavior they are creating. More help in understanding the new media will be available at the MFM annual conference in Atlanta in May.