Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Report Nielsen In Hot Water With NYC Broadcasters

The ratings firm met last Friday with representatives of New York City stations to explain how it plans to improve the ratings by increasing the sample homes and perhaps deploying new PPM technology that make use of program audio to track what people are watching. 

According to TVNewsCheck, the meeting followed concerns of the broadcasters that the June ratings were down 20% from the prior year in the key adults 25-54 demo.

Nielsen did not promise to reissue any numbers at the meeting, the broadcaster said, but talked about improving the ratings by increasing the sample homes and perhaps deploying new PPM technology that makes use of program audio to track what people are watching.

Matt O'Grady

In response to questions about the meeting from TVNewsCheck, Nielsen issued a statement attributed to Matt O'Grady, Nielsen's EVP and managing director of local media, among those at the meeting.

The statement acknowledges that Nielsen has had a "series of meetings” with New York broadcasters on what Nielsen is "doing to improve and expand our measurement capabilities for local media," but it doesn't address the broadcasters' specific complaints about the spring ratings shortfall or what Nielsen might do about them.

"Capturing a representative measurement of how consumers are viewing video across all types of platforms is the No. 1 priority for Nielsen," the statement says. "We are increasing our sample sizes and have announced 60 markets thus far — including New York — where we are adding tablet and smartphone viewing of local TV content to the ratings, and actively evaluating big data sources to add greater stability. 
"We are also testing the inclusion of out-of-home viewing, and more granular qualitative data to the mix. The viewing pie is expanding and our goal is to ensure that the ratings pie grows, as well."

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