Nielsen plans to add DirectTV, Vizio, and Dish devices into its many data breakdowns, and with that new information comes a lot of data about the commercials that run alongside them. While the data also comes with data for streaming shows, it will also help studios measure “addressable” ads that target specific audiences and niches. In a nutshell, this means that companies will be able to better track the viewership of their ads, and whether or not their targeted ads are hitting with their intended audience.
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Previously, Nielsen only measured on-demand and linear broadcasts that typically ran with a pre-determined set of advertisements. This new data will allow them to track unique ads that are served only to specific demographics, or even individual households. This would be the first big step to update audience measurements since the onset of DVR systems around 2007. Nielsen hopes the system will “be able to show the same metric for the connected TV as we do for a live footprint.” While it isn’t certain what this will mean for how advertisements are served to streaming audiences, it could mean big changes as companies have better information with which to tailor their ads. Web ads have been collecting this kind of data for years, but collecting personal information is much easier over the internet than over the airwaves.
If this new system ends up being like other major updates before it, there could be a several month wait before it’s running at full capacity. Nielsen has often faced pushback when attempting to shift how they measure audience figures, but this time around they may find studios more amenable to the change. As streaming continues to get bigger and bigger, there are doubtless quite a few big corporations who are eager to analyze every piece of data they can get, and nobody gathers data quite like Nielsen.
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Source: Variety
