Beginning next year, it will integrate Comcast numbers into its local television measurement service.
Nielsen isn’t abandoning set-top-box (STB) data, but it is substantially scaling back plans to use it for local measurement. It boils down to the need for speed. In the 55 largest markets, Nielsen has determined — at least for now — that it’s not possible to collect and process the data quickly enough to continue with overnight ratings, a major client need. So, Nielsen has altered the new “hybrid” system it laid out last summer.
