Members of a consortium of media companies and advertisers recently formed to find new ways of measuring TV audiences disputed the perception that they're seeking an alternative to the longstanding industry standard, Nielsen Co. (VNU.YY).

"This is not designed to provide an alternative to Nielsen as a currency in the business, said Alan Wurtzel, president of research with NBC Universal, during a conference call Thursday with reporters.

The group, dubbed the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, or CIMM, cast itself as an effort to support third-party research into how audiences are consuming media across technology platforms and find new and more effective ways to measure audiences for advertisers in the digital age.

Thus far, the group is comprised of 14 firms, including content providers Time Warner Inc. (TWX), The Walt Disney Co. (DIS), Viacom Inc. (VIA), CBS Corp. (CBS), NBC and News Corp. (NWSA), owner of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal.

Ad agency holding companies Interpublic Group of Co.'s (IPG), Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) and WPP (WPPGY) are involved, and major advertisers include AT&T Corp. (T), Unilever (UL) and Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) are also on board.

Jack Wakshlag, chief research officer for Turner Broadcasting, said the firms have made multiyear financial commitments to the effort measuring in the "seven figures" range, and its funding will grow as more members participate.

The media and advertising industry has faced tumult in recent years that goes beyond the economic downturn. The rise of the Internet and other digital media has fragmented audiences and led to broad uncertainty about the future of mass media and the economics of advertising.

When news of the coalition broke last month, observers pounced on it as an effort to dethrone Nielsen as the industry standard for TV audience measurement.

For its part, Nielsen uses a panel of U.S. households to estimate how many people watch TV shows. Networks and advertisers then use the Nielsen data to set advertising rates. Nielsen charges both networks and advertisers for access to the data.

TV-network owners and ad agencies have long chafed at Nielsen's tight control over quantifying TV viewing. In the late 1990s, TV networks teamed up with advertising agencies and planned to spend tens of millions of dollars to launch a rival to Nielsen, dubbed Smart. That effort fizzled in part because of the high cost.

But network executives have continued to complain that Nielsen doesn't measure their audiences accurately. In May, Nielsen fanned those worries when it told networks some people in Nielsen households hadn't been following instructions to push buttons that register who in a household is actually watching television, possibly depressing its viewer estimates.

"We have always worked closely with clients, advertisers, marketers and others to bring innovation to the industry," said Nielsen spokesman Gary Holmes. "Based on what is now known about CIMM and its mission, we look forward to working with them along with our clients and the industry to continue to define the future of media measurement across more and more screens."

Wurtzel said the group would send out "request for proposals" to firms that can provide new and innovative ways to provide cross-platform audience measurement and set-top box-based measurement.

David Poltrack, chief research officer with CBS, said the research process would be completely transparent and all its results would be made public.

Colleen Fahey Rush, executive vice president of research with Viacom's MTV Networks, said the group would consider proposals from Nielsen.

"If they want to apply, we'll consider their application like anyone else's," Rush said.

-By Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2472; nat.worden@dowjones.com