Nielsen Makes TV Analysis Buy

In the US, Nielsen has acquired TV analysis and software company Audience Analytics along with its Audience Watch software. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Nielsen says that acquiring this software will significantly strengthen its ability to process, integrate, analyse and report large quantities of audience measurement data.

Utah-based Audience Analytics produces programming, reach and frequency analysis based on Nielsen Media Research's respondent data and from other industry sources. Its database evaluates audience ratings and shares and its software can process large census-based data sets.

Founder and President Dr Mark Cannon will join Nielsen as Senior Vice President, Analytics Technology, in charge of an advanced applications team. His background includes 10 years at the GE Research and Development Centre where he helped develop several techniques for analysing TV programming, promotion and finance. He received his PhD from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Nielsen says that Cannon's Audience Watch software will become the primary delivery mechanism for its DigitalPlus product line which will provide analytics on tuning and interactive TV usage based on set top box data, along with measurement of video-on-demand transactions.

Audience Analytics' system will complement Nielsen's existing data delivery systems, such as NPOWER (www.mrweb.com/drno/news7132.htm ), to provide more granular data analysis.

'This tool allows for our respondent level tuning and demographic data to be analysed along with these various set-top box data sets, providing our clients access to the highest quality, most comprehensive analytical insights in the marketplace,' stated Jim O'Hara, President of Media Product Leadership for Nielsen.

Cannon said he believes that as Nielsen develops more advanced analytics capabilities, Audience Watch will become a key piece of the firm's growth in this area.

Web sites are www.nielsen.com and www.audiencewatch.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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