Nielsen Makes New Plans for Online Ad and TV Measures

Nielsen has this week told clients it may widen the definition of its new Extended Screen ratings, dropping the absolute requirement that online TV programs must carry the same ads as their original broadcast. Separately, the research giant is said to be piloting a new 'GRP'-style online audience measure.

Extended Screen ratings hold out the prospect of augmenting the firm's current C3 ratings to include not just time-shifted TV viewing on TV but also time- and place-shifted viewing via the Internet. For the moment however, clients must wait: the initial phase of the roll-out (without the wider definition) has just been postponed by three months to April 25 next year, with Nielsen citing difficulties processing the complex new multiplatform ratings.

The latest move, reported on www.mediapost.com , could greatly expand the range of TV content reported via the service. According to a Nielsen statement sent to clients on Wednesday, discussions about the extension have been more complex than expected 'and will therefore be offered in a future phase of Extended Screen'. Watch this space, the company says.


Meanwhile Nielsen is working on a service giving the equivalent of its TV ad Gross Rating Points (GRP) for online ads, according to the Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com ). The new service requires the participation of web site owners, and Facebook is already said to be 'signed up' for a forthcoming trial. The paper suggests the company will unveil the product at next week's Advertising Week event.

GRP measures the reach and frequency of TV ads, giving demographic information about audience. The online version is likely to give breakdowns by age group and sex, and possibly location, using a blend of Nielsen's demographic panel data with anonymous information from participating online companies about audience for individual ads.

Online audience specialist comScore already provides a GRP-like measure tracking by attributes including age, sex and household income.

Web sites: www.nielsen.com , www.comscore.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

• Nielsen Media Research
• All news