Now Nielsen will measure TV viewership wherever the viewers are viewing:
Nielsen Media Research plans to begin measuring television viewership on the Internet, on portable devices and outside the home, as the ratings-measurement company responds to the growing number of ways in which consumers can see their favorite programs.
The new service, which will be rolled out in phases over the next several years, will track viewership of shows whether they are seen on a computer screen, a cellphone, iPod or other mobile device…..
Some components of the new service, called “Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement,” will go into effect this summer, while other elements will take up to five years to adapt.
I’ll say it one more time (that’s a lie; I’ll say it many more times): Who wants to own distribution? What’s left unsaid here, I imagine, is that Nielsen will also measure shows that don’t come from the big networks anymore. Rocketboom will get ratings. Though Nielsen will also have problems trying to come up with samples that will accurately measure viewing of every nicheier programming from ever more sources. It’s like trying to count the grains of sand on the beach — at high tide.
: Speaking of Nielsen measuring things. they say that half the people coming to sports sites for the World Cup are going to the BBC. Big is still big.
: CORRECTION: I should have said half the people in the UK, of course. Thanks, Dave.
