Nielsen Adds Broadband-Only Homes to Local Measures

Nielsen has today announced an 'Impressions First Initiative', supporting what it calls an 'industry-wide move' to impressions-based buying and selling in local markets across the country. This will accompany the integration of broadband only homes (BBO) into its local metrics in January 2022.

In turn, the ratings giant says this will lay the groundwork for implementing its integrated Nielsen ONE system across local, national and digital measurement.

Nielsen cites the 'significant and growing' penetration of BBO homes in local markets, and says it has been working with the media and advertising industries in preparation for their inclusion in TV metrics for its 56 LPM and Set Meter markets. With the switchover in January next year, the company will make impressions the default reporting setting in its software systems, Arianna, NLTV and eVip, and will lead with impressions in all of its external communications. Ratings will remain available to end-users for planning purposes.

Bernie Shimkus, VP, Director of Research & Consumer Insights at Harmelin Media says agencies and advertisers are 'eager' for the incorporation of BBO homes into local TV samples, citing growth in the proportion of BBO homes from about 3% in 2015 to 'at least 20% of local TV homes today'. Kathy Doyle, EVP, Managing Director, Local Investment at MAGNA Global says her agency 'supports and appreciates Nielsen's prioritization of reporting on impressions', which she describes as 'absolutely the core building block that we must start with as an industry'.

Nielsen CEO David Kenny says the company is 'committed to measuring all audiences and the complete video consumption across the local marketplace'. He continues: 'Impressions are the great equalizer across all screens, programs, listeners and viewers. Nielsen's move to prioritize reporting impressions will help standardize the way it measures ads and content, enabling greater comparability across National, Local and Digital and is in line with Nielsen's initiative to drive comparable metrics which are foundational to Nielsen ONE'.

The company has postponed the BBO implementation from an original deadline of October 2021, it says 'in response to industry requests'. In the interim it will publish an official BBO UE to be audited and reviewed by the Media Rating Council (MRC), whose accreditation it has recently lost for national TV and Local Market ratings. The firm says adding BBO homes 'will increase reporting sample sizes significantly and capture impressions that may be missing, especially for sports and OTT'.

Web site: www.nielsen.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