Nielsen Accepts Dual Ratings Approach

Nielsen Media Research has agreed to develop its TV ratings along two lines, following a meeting last week with more than 100 clients. Parallel with the development of more flexible minute-by-minute data, the firm will offer a simpler 'average commercial minute ratings' service.

Company representatives emerged from a meeting on Thursday (7th December) with the verdict that 'there is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution' – some clients want the granular data to perform complex, minute-by-minute analysis of their own, while others want a more convenient, standardised service.

Sara Erichson, Nielsen General Manager of National Services, said: 'providing the industry with multiple tools that range from very flexible and granular to more standardized formats is the best approach'.

Therefore, Nielsen says it will both enhance the granularity of its data to allow creation of minute-by-minute ratings for any interval of DVR playback up to 7 days; and continue developing an average commercial minute ratings file (MIT) for convenience and for compatibility with clients' commonly used legacy software systems.

The company will enhance its All Minute Data File so that from April 24 2007, clients can use it to create their own ratings for any given minute of the day for any period of DVR playback. Its NPOWER Analysis System will provide the same analytical capability from January 29, 2007. New file formats for the All Minute Data File will be supplied to Nielsen clients and their third-party software solution providers early next week.

Nielsen will decide specifications and timing for the new 'average commercial minute ratings file' by the end of the month. The meeting discussed development of Live + 2 Days and Live + 3 Days data streams for this file. The file will become available no later than May 31, 2007.

Stats revealed at the meeting showed that among 18-49 year olds recording prime-time programming, DVR playback within two days was: 76% for broadcast networks; 85% for ad-supported cable networks; and 85% for all syndicated shows. DVR playback within three days was 84% for broadcast networks, 89% for ad-supported cable networks and 91% for all syndicated shows.

The company is on the Web at www.nielsenmedia.com .

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

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