-By Katy Bachman

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, an industry group formed last year to promote innovation in TV and cross-platform audience measurement, announced Monday (Jan. 25) the addition of six new members: Gannett, PepsiCo, Belo, ConAgra, Hearst Television and Microsoft. CIMM now has a total of 21 members.

Formed last September by 14 of the nation's largest media companies, agencies and advertisers, CIMM members are pooling funds (an estimated $100,000 each) to solicit new research.

In addition to announcing the new members, CIMM unveiled the next steps in its initiative to explore the potential of using set-top-box data for audience measurement. Based on meetings held last year with the five research firms currently providing set-top-box data, CIMM will establish a set-top-box lexicon, a common set of terms for analyzing and processing STB measurement.

"It is clear the industry needs a common language around set-top-box data," said Jane Clarke, managing director of CIMM, which recently held its first meeting of the year.

To help develop the STB Lexicon, CIMM hired Charlene Weisler, a media research consultant. Weisler is also working with the MPG Collaborative Alliance, which is also exploring set-top-box data.