Nielsen Asked To Replace Live Only Data

The 4A’s and the Television Bureau of Advertising have come together to propose a change to Nielsen’s published data streams that they say will better approximate daily consumer consumption and capture more delayed viewing behavior.

The proposal suggests replacing Nielsen’s Live Only data stream with Live +1. The Live Only data would still be tabulated and available through Nielsen but would not appear as a published stream.

Live Only captures households tuning into or people viewing a program on a specific station or cable network at the actual time the show is telecast. Any delayed viewing in excess of 25 seconds from the recorded time is not captured in Live Only data.

Live +1 data, on the other hand, captures households tuning into or people viewing a program at the actual time it was telecast, and also captures any delayed viewing within 24 hours of a recorded program. It accounts for the new viewing habits of today’s households, where consumers are starting programs but then pausing them and finishing them at their own pace and viewing programs on other devices that do not follow traditional program airing schedules.

“As television viewing has evolved, the Live +1 stream is now the best representation of the spot TV audience,” said Steve Lanzano, TVB president. “Live +1 also very closely aligns with and is the best surrogate of national C7 ratings, which has become the predominant national transaction currency.”

“Live +1 is a step forward in recognizing that the shifts in local media consumption are dynamic, and it’s our job to keep pace with consumers,” added Louis Jones, EVP of the 4A’s media and data practice. “It also marks significant progress in empowering media buyers with more actionable and accurate audience data to make buying decisions with.”

The 4A’s and the TVB are in discussions with Nielsen about the proposal. It comes just six months after Nielsen’s announcement that it would start incorporating YouTube TV and Hulu’s live TV programming in its traditional ratings in order to better reflect the new ways people watch TV.

A Nielsen spokesperson commented: “Nielsen’s mission is to provide broadcasters and marketers the most trusted, complete picture of how consumers are viewing content, especially as these behaviors evolve through the introduction of dynamic new technologies and services. We support the TVB and 4A’s recommendations for enhanced data streams that go beyond live and same day viewing, and better reflect the daily and time-shifted viewing habits of consumers. We look forward to working with all our constituencies including the 4A’s, the TVB, TV stations and cable clients as well as the broader industry on the best approach for implementation.”

Read the proposal here.