The age-old method of finding out how many people watched a particular program on TV no longer get the job done. That’s because millions of people have cut the cord and moved to online streaming services. It’s important to count those numbers as well to get a true sense of how many people watched a particular show. Nielsen is now going to track TV audiences on online streaming services as well.
“The syndication of SVOD measurement as part of Nielsen’s Total Audience offerings represents a big step forward in terms of moving closer to transparency within the SVOD marketplace,” said Megan Clarken, the president of watch at Nielsen.
Nielsen has been tracking demographic information and the number of people streaming a program for decades now. It’s essentially going to do the same thing for subscription-based streaming services like Netflix now as well.
The company’s new service, Nielsen Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) Content Ratings, will measure streaming services’ program in a way that’s compatible with linear TV. The data collected will include ratings, frequency, reaches, and segmentation reporting.
Only Netflix has signed up for this so far, however, Nielsen is looking forward to adding Amazon Prime and Hulu to the list by next year. Other testers who want to try out this new service include NBCUniversal, Disney-ABC, A+E Networks, Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Television, and others.