Nielsen testing TV, online video ratings combo

Nielsen Media Research said it is working on a program that will track online video viewing statistics through "TV Everywhere" offerings and add them to TV viewership numbers for a holistic picture of cross-media ratings. However, the company said this system will not be ready until 2011, according to a letter sent by Nielsen to prospective clients of the system.

Sara Erichson, president of Nielsen's Media Client Services for North America, said the company does not want to tarnish its standard TV ratings, which are integral in TV ad buys. But in the Nielsen letter, which she signed, she argues that integrating online video viewers into the total could help in monetization efforts around Internet delivery of TV programs.

Nielsen also said it is experimenting with ways to measure online video usage compared with TV viewing habits through small, in-home trials of an "Internet meter" that will expand next year. 

For more:
- see the MultiChannel News article here 

Related articles
Nielsen invested $1 billion in multi-screen measurement
Study finds online video use much lower than reported