Nielsen

With its long-term contract with Nielsen set to expire today, the Fox Television Stations Group was preparing to become the first network-owned TV station group to walk away from Nielsen in decades. While sources say negotiations continued over the weekend, the two companies were characterized as being at loggerheads over some key contractual and methodological issues, and that the Fox stations were considering dropping Nielsen altogether and instead using rival TV ratings service Rentrak exclusively.

Consumers spend a lot of time watching video — on TVs and on other platforms. Eyeballs have shifted from watching live TV to a mix of live consumption plus DVR plus on-demand on a TV or digitally through a game console, smartphone, tablet or computer. Consumers are driving rapid change, devoting their time and money to a wide range of platforms. But is the industry primed to make the most of the new video landscape? Yes … and no.

KTSF, an independent, full-power station targeting Asian Americans in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose market (DMA 6), today launched its local TV App in the Apple App Store and fully implemented […]

With Rentrak’s announcement this week that it struck a long-term deal to provide local market TV ratings to Fox Television Stations, the company is making headway in its battle for a bigger piece of the audience measurement business.

This past TV season saw many programs launch beyond the screens we watched them on through social media. TV moments became thousands of messages on Twitter within seconds, with the energy of engaged fan bases, the influence of program stars and press, and the quick creativity of advertisers amplifying posts to millions of people engaged on Twitter.

Adding more homes is designed to improve stability across 46 metered markets, the ratings firm says.

Hearst’s Boston ABC affiliate, concerned about a “puzzling ratings decline” over the past several months, has written a letter to advertisers blaming Nielsen for the falloff in numbers.The letter, from Andy Hoffman, WCVB’s general sales manager, says the station believes the ratings service relied too heavily on a sample that included too many young people and too many New Hampshire residents.

As the network television upfronts come to a close, the battle for advertising budgets will begin. And with many networks premiering new shows and potential hits, there’s no doubt that advertisers will look to gain every advantage when trying to optimize their ad dollars. But while advertisers are looking for primetime ad space, they shouldn’t forget where the real opportunities lie — with the viewers, who continue to access and engage with TV content in a variety of ways. Knowing when and where to find consumers is crucial to reach them and ensure ads break through the clutter and catch attention.

Overindulgence doesn’t have to be a bad thing. And when it comes to television content, heavy viewers represent a weighty opportunity for marketers and brands. In fact, a recent study conducted by Nielsen notes that programmers can leverage heavy TV viewers to reduce risk, drive programming and increase advertising efficiency.

Americans spend more than one-fifth of their time watching traditional TV — and a lot of ads, as a result. Adding to this increased ad exposure is the fact that the number of commercial minutes each hour has increased year-over-year on broadcast television, according to Nielsen’s annual Advertising and Audiences report. In the past five-year period, despite network television’s climb, cable leads with 15 minutes and 38 seconds of commercial time during each hour on average in 2013, compared to network TV’s 14 minutes and 15 seconds.

Nielsen’s mandate to begin offering on-demand content ratings (ODCR) has come closer to fruition, as the TV measurement giant is on the brink of being able to insert current commercial loads into library VOD content. In a deal that will be formally announced Wednesday morning at the NCTA Cable Show, Nielsen has teamed up with the ad-tech firm BlackArrow in a partnership that promises to help speed up the implementation of ODCR.

Combining local TV and radio media buys can double the reach for advertisers in certain markets. Nielsen and CBS says the results of the first “proof of concept” show that using local TV and local radio can deliver higher reach. For instance, combining television prime time and late news all week with morning drive on weekdays, an advertiser could reach 75% of adults 18-49 in Boston within four weeks.

The change, which resulted in lower numbers, highlights the dangers of using self-reported behavior in research studies, TVB says.

Traditional TV consumption rose ever so slightly when looking at live and time-shifted viewing. On a monthly basis, Nielsen Cross-Platform Report for the fourth quarter of 2013 showed that traditional TV viewing was up over 170 minutes and 12 seconds versus 168 hours, 2 seconds. Live TV was at 155:32, down from 156:24, and time-shifted TV was up at 14:40 versus 12:38.

The video landscape is in a time of major flux, with digital viewing on the rise, advertisers seeking integrated campaigns and yet TV networks still holding most of the cards. But with the emergence of new technologies—and new measurement capabilities—video advertising is poised for change. Last year, Nielsen and Simulmedia brought together a core group of researchers, marketers and C-suite executives from all sides of the media industry to discuss the future of video advertising. Here are the results.

Intermountain West Communications, owner of KSNV, the NBC affiliate in Las Vegas (DMA 42), today announced an agreement to use both Nielsen television audience measurement and Nielsen Local Custom Toolbox […]

The action follows an NAB board resolution warning that the inclusion of broadband-only homes in the local TV sample could “understate actual viewership” of TV stations.

Media-buying biggie Interpublic’s Mediabrands is making a case for the local TV advertising marketplace to shift from conventional TV ratings to “impressions-based trading.” The recommendation comes as the local TV audience measurement marketplace is in disarray, with the broadcast industry balking at Nielsen’s efforts to introduce a new “hybrid” measurement format that would, among other things, integrate broadband-only households into Nielsen’s local TV audience panels.

Looking to give local advertisers what national TV advertisers have — the ability to link TV viewing data with consumer buying data — Nielsen is starting up Local Buyer Reach. Nielsen says the service will link its local television viewing data with consumer transactions and auto registrations. Some 40-plus categories can be accessed, including automotive, retail shopping, quick-service restaurants and grocery stores.

The National Association of Broadcasters Thursday afternoon announced a resolution calling on Nielsen to improve its local TV audience measurement methods, and to delay a planned roll-out of a new “hybrid” measurement method until it can be “fully tested in the marketplace.”

In the U.S. and around the world, fans’ passion for sports continues to grow. 2013 was no exception—over 33 billion hours of national sports programming were consumed by 255 million people in the U.S., up 27% from the 26 billion hours consumed in 2003.

The comapnies’ most comprehensive deal in a decades-long relationship spans television audience measurement and host of advisory services.

USA Network, whose Psych returns Wednesday, ranked first among cable’s entertainment networks in a preliminary study on viewer loyalty.

As a general rule, enhancing the entertainment value of ads is a key way to boost memorability and branding. Marketers can achieve this through any combination of: telling a story that viewers can relate to; creating a connection through humor or emotion; or incorporating attention-grabbing sights and sounds. In 2013, several ads capitalized on these principles, and as a result, topped the list not only among the general population, but also by men and women separately.

Programmatic video advertising platform BrightRoll today announced a strategic partnership with Nielsen. Through the partnership, BrightRoll will integrate Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings into its console, providing new measurements and analytics to BrightRoll customers. The purpose of the ratings are to provide online video advertisers with TV-like measurement.

John Lewis, president of the Americas for Nielsen, said that the acquisition adds to the company’s existing capabilities and will provide growth opportunities in other industry sectors.

Google said it will begin allowing Nielsen to measure audiences for ads on its YouTube website, a decision that could give ad buyers more confidence to shift dollars to online video.

Google has teamed up with Nielsen and has begun quietly inviting select clients to begin testing ad campaigns sold using online campaign ratings data.

Sixteen-year Nielsen veteran Mitch Barns will become CEO of the company in 2014, succeeding David Calhoun, who will become executive chairman of Nielsen’s board of directors. James M. Kilts, the current chairman, will remain a company director after leaving the chairman post.

It says today that beginning next fall it will use codes embedded by networks within the programs to collect information on shows watched on mobile phones and tablets that will be included in its TV ratings.

Simulmedia continues to add more consumer purchase-related TV viewing data to broaden its effort to sell non-primetime cable TV commercial inventory to advertisers.

With more evidence that diaries don’t work, Nielsen reps say that fixing local TV measurement is its No. 1 priority, but they offer no time frame for when a better solution might be forthcoming. Before implementing new ratings methods, says Nielsen’s Matt O’Grady, Nielsen has to make sure that they are technologically sound, user-friendly and affordable,

The Council for Research Excellence evaluated two primary factors affecting the accuracy of information gathered through ratings diaries — random errors and biases due to skewed audience samplings. Based on 11 years of Nielsen data, one study found that the margin of error in ratings derived from diaries is growing, meaning those figures are frequently off by more than 10%, long considered standard. The group’s other study found that ratings based on diaries continue to be skewed, despite efforts to reach a wider breadth of viewers by using address-based instead of phone-based audience samples.

The company’s new product, Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings, professes to measure the activity and reach of Twitter conversation about shows.

Nielsen is scrambling to develop new technologies and launch new services to better track TV ratings across multiple platforms, but the industry is becoming impatient.

There’s growing frustration across the broadcasting industry that programs being watched on other platforms aren’t being tracked by Nielsen and the big four networks want something done about it. 

Following a nine-month review process, the Federal Trade Commission approved the acquisition, as long as Arbitron makes its Portable People Meter available to third parties for cross-platform measurement for at least the next eight years.

Long hobbled by clunky technology and often featuring old movies and television shows, the cable and satellite on-demand video services have been slow to expand viewership. A new report from Nielsen finds that VOD is available in 60% of American TV households. That’s a dramatic increase from just five years ago, when such services were offered to just 37% of homes.