Council for Research Excellence

The Council for Research Excellence (CRE) was an independent research group created in 2005 and funded by Nielsen,[1] with a mandate to advance the knowledge and practice of audience measurement methodology. It was shut down in 2017.[2]

The CRE identified specific methodological research projects, selected research providers and reported the findings to Nielsen's client base. The organization had numerous working committees including: Big Data, Digital Research, Education, Local Measurement, Media Consumption & Engagement, Return Path Measurement, ROI, Sample Quality and Social Media. CRE was headquartered in New York City.

The CRE was composed of senior-level industry researchers representing advertisers, broadcast networks, basic cable networks, broadcast syndication companies, local television stations and industry trade associations. CRE members represented a broad cross-section of companies such as NBC Universal, Univision, CBS Corporation, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., Radio Advertising Bureau, and National Association of Broadcasters.[3]

The CRE conducted studies to examine different types of video usage in natural settings and to improve measurement quality,[4] such as Big Data Primer, [5] Acceleration Ethnography Study, [6] Talking Social TV, [7] cross-cultural research using qualitative techniques, [8] and CRE guide for validating new and modeled audience data.[9]