Alan Wurtzel

Alan Wurtzel is the President of Research and Media Development for NBC Universal. He is responsible for the planning, development and analysis of all audience, program, and marketing research for the NBC Television Network, the news and information cable networks MSNBC and CNBC, and their various digital properties.
Wurtzel also leads the company’s Broadcast Standards & Practices Department, which oversees program content and advertising and commercial clearance for the network. He joined NBC Universal in May 1999.
Throughout his tenure, Wurtzel has led numerous research initiatives for the company, including measuring the effectiveness of television ads viewed on a DVR, exploring the buying power of the growing AlphaBoomer population and launching the TAMi, or Total Audience Measurement Index, a compilation of data designed to measure the total exposure to any one program across multiple media platforms.
Wurtzel has also conducted extensive research around the Beijing, Vancouver and upcoming London Olympics, taking advantage of the unique scope and duration of the games to explore new methods of single source measurement and gain unprecedented insight into consumer cross-platform behavior. Additionally, Wurtzel helped spearhead the creation of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM), a group of leading US television content providers, media agencies and advertisers who joined forces in 2009 to help promote research innovation and explore new ways to measure audiences across traditional and new media.
Prior to joining NBC Universal, Wurtzel spent 21 years at ABC in a variety of managerial positions, including the role of senior vice president, Media Development, Brand Management and Research. Prior to that, he served for five and a half years as senior vice president, news magazine and long form programming for ABC News.
Before joining ABC, Mr. Wurtzel taught at the University of Georgia and at Queens College, City University of New York. He authored many articles for both academic journals and consumer publications and is the author of the textbook Television Production.
He was named a “Media Maven” by Advertising Age in 2009 for his work with cross- platform measurement and was selected by Mediaweek as one of the “Most Influential Executives Shaping the Future of Media” in 2007.
Wurtzel holds a Ph.D in mass communications from New York University. He and his wife, Susan, and their two daughters, Joanna and Caroline, reside in New York.