Nielson Also Adjusts Rating System to Include Streaming Data

 

 

Billboard isn’t the only company adjusting its rating system. The Nielsen Co., the marketing research firm that measures media audiences, will also start including data from this newfangled thing called the Internet. 

According to the Hollywood Reporter, “The Nielsen Co. is expanding its definition of television and will introduce a comprehensive plan to capture all video viewing including broadband and Xbox and iPads.” 

Under the current system, Nielsen’s data comes from 23,000 sample homes which rely on cable, satellite, or network television. Networks naturally don’t like this method as their programs get no credit for views via devices that deliver streaming video. The networks have a valid argument as Nielson’s own numbers indicate the number of cable-free, broadband-wired homes are on the rise. Am I hipster for announcing I get all my programing from Netflix and the Internet? 

Nielsen hopes to have new measuring tools in its sample homes by September. Implementing a system that gathers data from from iPads will take a little longer but Nielsen hopes to have a system in place by the end of the year.

As with the Billboard changes, some viewers are for Nielsen’s new rating system and others are against it. Supporters believe streaming data will help so-called “cult” shows like Community get the recognition they deserve.

“I don't think anyone is suggesting Community or Happy Endings or any other given ‘cult’ shows are secretly mammoths that are bigger than The Big Bang Theory,” writes an A.V. Club reader named roare. “But I do there are more people watching them than the ratings suggest, just because they're watched by mostly young audiences, and young audiences are exactly the kind of people who aren't watching TV live anymore.”

What do you think of the recent Nielsen and Billboard changes? 

Source: http://blog.starcam.com/post/Nielson-Also-Adjusts-Rating-System-to-Include-Streaming-Data.aspx

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