Nielsen to release platform to measure online TV audiences

Nielsen is set to launch a pilot programme for Nielsen Digital Program Ratings (NDPR) that will measure audiences for TV content viewed online.

A+E, ABC, AOL, CBS, The CW, Discovery Communications, FOX, NBC and Univision have all signed on to participate in this test, which will begin in May and run through July.

NDPR leverage the same measurement methodology used in Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings, which delivers TV-comparable overnight metrics for online advertising campaigns.

The two use a patent-pending process combining traditional Nielsen TV and online panel data with aggregated, anonymous demographic information from participating online data providers, including Facebook.

The pilot for NDPR will provide similar overnight audience data, including unique audience, stream counts and reach by age and gender for TV programming viewed online, aiming to offer a ‘more holistic view’ of the online and TV audience for both programming content and associated ad campaigns.

“The potential to measure video viewing of specific programs on linear TV as well as the Internet is significant,” said Alan Wurtzel, President of Research and Media Development, NBCUniversal. “It’s an important step toward reaching the ‘holy grail’ of true cross-platform measurement.”

Eric Solomon, senior vice president for global digital audience measurement at Nielsen said that the NPDR is a major milestone for the industry, enabling clients to understand the online audience for their programming at a deeper level by “harnessing the same methodology Nielsen already uses to measure the audience for related advertising”.

The pilot program will be ready this summer and will be used to fine-tune NDPR prior to commercial launch later on this year.