Nielsen has expanded deduplication of CTV audiences to include new smart TV models.
This should enable media buyers and sellers to obtain accurate person-level viewership inclusive of co-viewing across Samsung and VIZIO devices and streaming platforms such as Roku and Hulu.
With the release of an expansion in deduplication practices, the company hopes to demonstrate progress toward completing Nielsen ONE, Nielsen’s promised forthcoming single cross-media measurement tool.
“This is a critical step toward Nielsen ONE and the movement toward providing comparable and deduplicated metrics across all screens, 24/7 for the marketplace,” said Ameneh Atai, general manager of digital audience measurement for Nielsen.
ONE was originally announced in December of 2020, but has yet to be released. It promises to “provide reach and frequency metrics across linear programming, streaming, connected TV (CTV), and digital channels”.
Atai added: “Nielsen’s combination of CTV coverage and deduplication with person-level co-viewing leads the industry as streaming grows and represents a larger share of how people consume media”
The company has come under fire in recent years for an alleged lack of accuracy in its audience measurement tools. The Media Rating Council suspended the company’s accreditation for national TV rankings in September of last year.
In late March, Nielsen was sold to private equity. At the time, tech analysts like Ian Whittaker remained sceptical the change would help fast-track solutions to Nielsen’s measurement issues, writing: “I don’t think the other firms will back off, especially given the growing importance of measurement”.
