Merger Will Boost Competition, Cooperation

[Commentary] While the dust continues to settle over the announcement of the proposed merger between comScore and Rentrak, one consensus sentiment has risen above the rest -- competition is good. And competition, especially as it relates to the challenging field of crossplatform audience measurement, is very good. The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) is supportive of the proposed merger because the competition it will bring to the audience- measurement industry will fuel innovations and new approaches. That is what competition always helps spur.

For example, comScore has already launched a version 1.0 X-Media service, and now Nielsen is launching one of its own. Both will need improvements as users test them out, but competition will ensure that over time these improvements will take place.

[Jane Clarke is CEO and managing director of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM)]