Nielsen Ratings Just Got More Complicated…

MediaPost’s Joe Mandese writes about AC Nielsen planning on integrating online viewing and TV viewing ratings. The folks in Atlanta must be loving this development…

Nielsen Tuesday announced a decision and a plan to formally integrate viewing of online video content into its national TV ratings, effectively making the Internet a new television platform as far as the TV advertising marketplace is concerned. Calling the concept “extended screen” measurement, the move is akin to the expansion of the TV universe that occurred when Nielsen first began measuring other TV viewing platforms such as cable TV in the 1980s, or national syndicated television, unwired TV networks and Hispanic television as part of a single national TV ratings sample, and the reports that emanate from it.

Nielsen described the plan as a “single-source measurement” for both TV and online video content, and said it would unfold in two phases. The first, which was detailed in communiqués sent to clients Monday, is the rollout of Nielsen’s so-called “Internet meters” into every households participating in its national people meter ratings panel. The second phase, which details of which will be announced in the next few weeks, will be methods Nielsen will use to technically integrate the viewing of the two disparate platforms and measurement systems into a single rating that can be used by advertisers, agencies and television networks as the currency for advertising deals.

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