In an ever-changing world of TV ratings and numbers, CBS is taking a step toward total audience measurement by adding Nielsen’s Digital in TV ratings system.
CBS announced Wednesday that its CBS All Access app and mobile viewing platform will become the first of its kind to be certified under Nielsen’s digital ratings system. The deal falls under Nielsen’s Total Audience Measurement initiative, an effort to expand on linear TV ratings with the addition of mobile, online and DVR measurement.
Total audience measurement is the goal for all TV networks, as linear ratings drop off in favor of delayed viewing and online video options.
“CBS’s world-class content is being consumed across multiple platforms and devices,” Marc DeBevoise, EVP and GM of CBS Digital Media, said in a statement. “From day one, we made it a priority for CBS All Access to provide the most sophisticated measurement capabilities and have been working closely with Nielsen to implement Digital in TV ratings. We look forward to working closely with Nielsen to further expand measurement across even more platforms in the near future.”
With its Nielsen deal, CBS becomes the first broadcast network to include digital audience numbers in its overall reported ratings by utilizing Nielsen’s SDK metering technology. Through this, the network can measure viewership numbers of live streams of CBS local TV stations on CBS All Access, which adds up to about 95 markets, across several platforms.
“Nielsen’s mobile and computer ratings reinforce our commitment to provide comprehensive Total Audience measurement, measuring audiences anywhere and on any platform they are using to watch content,” said Nielsen Managing Director National Client Service Peter Bradbury in a statement. “We are very excited about the advancements we’ve made in TV audience ratings by including digital in order to understand viewing beyond traditional television, and we will continue to work very closely with CBS as they expand their digital measurement strategy.”
Read more at Broadcasting & Cable.
Brief Take: This comes just after comScore and Rentrak’s merger announcement, another sign that television ratings are changing rapidly and networks are clamoring to find better and more accurate ways to measure and monetize them.
[Image courtesy of CBS]
Tags: