Nielsen trial shows measuring online broadcast viewers is possible

Nielsen has announced the completion of a two-week technical trial aimed at capturing and measuring viewing of television content on mobile devices.

The trial verified that broadcasters can obtain ‘measureable’ online and mobile viewing using technology from Syncbak. Syncbak, a streaming company, enables users to watch live, in-market broadcast television.

Nielsen conducted a tablet and mobile measurement test with four CBS owned television stations in New York and Los Angeles, and in these markets, Nielsen managed to capture all viewing.

“This test was an important step in our commitment to fully measuring television content on mobile and tablet platforms,” said Farshad Family, senior vice president of local media product leadership at Nielsen.

“When it comes to mobile streaming, Syncbak is an increasingly important player, so we are pleased to demonstrate to the industry that we can count and incorporate their viewing and add it to the existing television metrics.”

David Poltrack, chief research officer at CBS was optimistic about being able to monetise content.

“With the success of this trial, we now know we can obtain measureable credit for the in-market mobile viewing of our content and do so in a way that is monetisable,” he said.

Jack Perry, CEO of Syncbak said that as the industry looks to deliver live in-market television to mobile devices, it is ‘imperative’ that all parties involved, from broadcasters to content creators, know that Nielsen can ‘accurately count the viewing’.

“This trial allows us to move forward in pairing local viewers with local content in a way that helps all of our various industry partners,” Perry said.