Measuring media can be tricky. Most of the time media on the TV is measured according to how many people are watching the show itself and not the commercials, which are the more important part of advertising. I mean I don’t think that advertisers care how many people were watching Grey’s Anatomy last night. I’m pretty sure they would rather know how many people watched their commercial, and how many people changed the channel when it came on.

According to our book, Strategic Media Decisions, “media are measured through a combination of techniques involving meters and diaries. Network television audiences are measured using an electronic device called a people meter.” Nielsen Media Research uses a sample group survey. “Advertisers spend billions of dollars every year based on Nielsen television audience estimates.” Wow! They spend a lot just to find out how many people are watching their stuff! The ANA is now asking Nielsen to start rating commercials, which makes much more sense to me.

Measuring social media is easier than televised media. (Or at least it seems so to me) To measure things on Facebook you can look at how many likes your company has and see how many comments and likes you get on the things you post. Then on Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr you can search hash tags and see how many times you have been tagged on a post or photo. Pretty cool, huh? No need to hire anyone to measure data for you, you’ve got the power to do so at your fingertips.

The relationship of social media and television is becoming even bigger. “People aren’t just consuming content on social networks, they’re actively sharing it.  As television becomes more digital – in the form of sharable video clips or articles about a show’s premiere, for example – social media will continue to play an increasingly important role in how consumers discover and engage with various forms of content, including TV.” Radha Subramanyam, SVP of Media Analytics, nielsenwire.