The data will be incorporated into NBCUniversal’s overall metrics for the Summer Games audience.
TV network execs reacted with anger over Nielsen’s decision to delay the introduction of its planned out-of-home (OOH) measurement. Nielsen execs spent Wednesday afternoon calling media companies with the news that the new ratings measurement would not debut in September, as expected. The measurement company did not give a revised start date, telling one network that it could be ready by January. In its conversations with network execs, Nielsen cited the pandemic as a main reason for the delay.
After further review, the TV rating for Super Bowl 53 actually didn’t fall to its lowest point in a decade, according to the newest figures from CBS. The company now puts Sunday’s total audience at 112.7 million viewers, not the 100.7 million tally circulated the day after the game. The revision stems from Nielsen’s “Out of Home” metric.
T​his agreement provides ABC with out-of-home viewing data, including ratings for all content — programs and commercials — aired on the network for live plus seven days of time-shifted viewing. The service combines Nielsen’s PPM technology from nearly 77,000 installed panelists across 44 TV markets with Nielsen’s national representative panel.
The development of Nielsen’s out-of-home ratings system is one of the most closely viewed happenings in sports TV this fall, particularly when the NFL kicks off. After a season that saw NFL ratings fall by close to 10%, the increases that come from out-of-home ratings could build momentum for NFL telecasts that saw their biggest TV ratings drop in years, network executives say.
Fox Sports has joined ESPN on the team of sports channels hoping to boost ratings by adding viewers at bars, restaurants, gyms, hotels and (yes) at work: Nielsen says today that Fox’s FS1, FS2 and Fox Deportes have signed a multiyear agreement to use Nielsen’s new National Out-of-Home Reporting Service.
Exclusives
Back in October, Nielsen announced its plan to launch an out-of-home ratings reporting service measuring TV commercial viewing in restaurants, bars, hotels, gyms, airports and other locales. Now, the company announced that the product, named the Nielsen National Out-of-Home Reporting Service, is ready for use, and ESPN is the service’s first client. ESPN2 will opt in as well.
