Nielsen gains MRC accreditation for digital measurement
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Michelle Clancy
| 08 February 2017

Measurement firm Nielsen has been granted accreditation by the Media Rating Council (MRC) for its inclusion of digital measurement in the TV ratings.

The additional capability, known as Digital in TV Ratings, accounts for linear TV viewing occurring on desktop and mobile devices for participating programming sources. This is the first solution to receive accreditation from the MRC for its contribution to TV audience measurement for programming viewed on computers and mobile devices.

Digital in TV Ratings launched in 2015 and is in use by clients such as ABC, CBS, Freeform and Univision. The capability draws on Nielsen’s Total Audience methodology, combining census-based data, persons demographics and Nielsen’s high quality, representative panels to report audiences across National and Local People Meter markets. It provides a method for programmers to account for all viewers across devices, as long as the programme content and commercials match the linear TV airing. The results are combined with traditional linear audience metrics to include that viewing into the C3 per C7 — that is the measurement of live and recorded views over three-day and seven-day windows — and local average quarter hour measurement.

Nielsen said that it will continue to work with the MRC to gain accreditation for other Nielsen Total Audience solutions, such as Digital Content Ratings, and intends to seek accreditation for Total Content Ratings.

“We’ve seen undeniable changes in content consumption behaviour, and more than ever, ensuring we have measurement capabilities in the industry to adequately capture audience digital and linear viewing is critical,” said Jed Meyer, executive vice president of corporate research, Univision Communications. “Nielsen’s MRC accreditation reaffirms the importance of transparent and accountable TV ratings for digital, especially as companies like Univision serve our respective audiences whenever and wherever they choose.”