People aren’t watching TV like they used to, and Nielsen is working on ways to provide its clients—both advertisers and traditional TV networks—the most accurate view of who’s consuming content and how. One way Nielsen believes it can accomplish this is by analyzing live TV viewing on streaming services. (Adweek)
Nielsen will add viewers who stream shows via Hulu and YouTube TV to the mix. It will include viewers watching linear broadcasts live, on DVRs, or through on-demand platforms on desktop computers, tablets and smartphones. (Deadline)
Nielsen will record all digital viewing that occurs within a three-day or seven-day window of when a show first aired on TV into its C3, C7 currency, which advertisers use to buy ad time. (Reuters)
To be certain, not all video from Hulu or YouTube will count. A Hulu user enjoying on-demand playback of the streaming-video hub’s critically praised series The Handmaid’s Tale or an old episode of the NBC cop drama Hill Street Blues would not count. To be part of the new measure, the programming has to “mirror” the commercial load of the original linear TV broadcast and be seen within the three-day or seven-day windows. (Variety)
Nielsen’s ratings had already included digital viewing from Sling TV and Sony’s PlayStation Vue, as well as TV apps such as CBS All Access. (WSJ / CMO Today)