-By Katy Bachman

Who needs research execs? Apparently not agency media shops. Shari Anne Brill, senior vp and director of programming for Carat and one of the most quoted and highly respected research execs, is the latest in a long line of veteran research execs to be shown the door.

Carat declined to provide details.

At Carat, Brill was in charge of analyzing the TV ratings, which were used as the basis for the $1 billion Carat spent on advertising for some of the nation's largest advertisers, including Procter & Gamble and Pfizer, among others. She was one of the thought leaders addressing the major issues facing audience measurement. She sat on every industry research committee imaginable, including the Council for Research Excellence and the newly formed Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement. She is credited with helping to lead the CRE's landmark Video Consumer Mapping study, which provided the industry's first baseline of how consumers interact with multiple media. Brill was recognized for her achievements in 2009 as a Mediaweek All-Star.

Brill's exit from Carat comes at a time when agencies appear to be emphasizing consumer research and underplaying the research currencies used to buy and sell commercial time.

Over the past few years, a number of researchers like Brill, have exited agencies including Bruce Goerlich (who landed at Rentrak), Susan Nathan and Stacey Lynn Koerner (who landed at Turner), David Ernst (now at Discovery) and Steve Sternberg.

Brill reported to Mike Hess who joined Carat a year ago as evp of research, marketing science and consumer insights.
 
Related: Media All-Stars 2008

Related: TiVo Looks to 'Purify' Ratings

Related: TV Still King