PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - McDonald, Scott TI - The Long Tail and Its Implications for Media Audience Measurement AID - 10.2501/S0021849908080379 DP - 2008 Sep 01 TA - Journal of Advertising Research PG - 313--319 VI - 48 IP - 3 4099 - http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/48/3/313.short 4100 - http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/48/3/313.full SO - J Advert Res2008 Sep 01; 48 AB - Chris Anderson caused something of a sensation with the 2006 publication of his book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. An expansion of his influential October 2004 article in Wired, the Anderson book provoked controversy throughout the media business. After all, media companies have always worshipped hits. Media executives and researchers bend every effort to find the next breakout television series, the next platinum album, the next blockbuster movie. What sense could one possibly make of Anderson's claim that the future of the media business was likely to be dominated, not by blockbuster hits, but by increasingly microscopic niches? This article considers the questions raised by Anderson in relation to media and its increasingly complicated measurement.