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After expanding its streaming measurement capabilities this year, Nielsen is combining its three streaming metrics into a single measurement suite—and rebranding two of them.
Streaming Video Ratings, SVOD Content Ratings and Digital Ad Ratings will now be offered in one measurement suite, which the company said will simplify ad targeting and measurement in the streaming space.
Additionally, the company is rebranding two of those offerings. Streaming Video Ratings, which rolled out earlier this year, will now be called Nielsen Streaming Platform Ratings, while SVOD Content Ratings are now Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings.
The rebrand, according to the company, will help prepare for its transition to Nielsen One, the company’s forthcoming cross-platform measurement tool.
Streaming Platform Ratings offer a macro view of streaming activity across the biggest subscription and ad-supported streaming services. The Streaming Content Ratings track program and episode-level measurement of specific streaming programs on those platforms. And Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings deliver audience measurement for streaming ads on connected TV devices.
“By combining our streaming solutions under one banner, Nielsen is providing the industry with a single destination to understand streaming audiences and how they are engaging with content, allowing media buyers and sellers to make the best decisions around ad strategies,” Deirdre Thomas, managing director, U.S. audience measurement product strategy, said in a statement. “With this comprehensive suite of streaming measurement solutions, content creators, platforms, studios and advertisers will have an unprecedented view of who is streaming, what they’re watching, which platforms consumers are gravitating to and how much time they are spending with streaming content.”
Nielsen’s measurement struggles
Nielsen is making these streaming changes as the company is grappling with losing its third-party accreditation of its national and local TV panels last month. It is racing to reinstate its accreditation while competitors are looking to capitalize on its public struggles.
The company has promised to pick up the pace on its new measurement offerings and accelerate the rollout of Nielsen One.
In a letter sent last month to advertisers, agencies, broadcasters and others in the media industry, CEO David Kenny wrote Nielsen needs “to move faster in advancing our measurement because the audience itself is moving faster.”
A couple weeks after sending the letter, Nielsen said it would add set-top box and smart TV data to its national TV measurement service.
Nielsen doesn’t yet have an updated product timetable for Nielsen One; as of now, its earliest iterations will not be available until the final months of 2022 and won’t be completely rolled out until 2024. But in an interview with Adweek last month, Kenny doubled down on the company’s commitment to getting Nielsen One products out the door as soon as they are ready.
“We believe Nielsen One can’t come fast enough, and if anything, this past year has convinced me that we need to move it up,” Kenny said. “We’ve got thousands of engineers and field operators and tens of millions of dollars behind getting this out there, because it’s what advertisers have long wanted. We agree with them.”
