More than six decades after Nielsen began monitoring our at-home television viewing habits, new standards will now dictate the ways in which Nielsen strives to make sense of our media consumption.
Until today, the concept of “TV viewing” related to the practice of viewing programming on a traditional television set. But as of 2013, millions of traditional viewers are not watching programming on traditional television screens. As a result, Nielsen is allegedly changing its methodology to accommodate the changing times.
According to the Hollywood Reporter:
By September 2013, when the next TV season begins, Nielsen expects to have in place new hardware and software tools in the nearly 23,000 TV homes it samples. Those measurement systems will capture viewership not just from the 75 percent of homes that rely on cable, satellite and over the air broadcasts but also viewing via devices that deliver video from streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon, from so-called over-the-top services and from TV enabled game systems like the X-Box and PlayStation.
Here’s the real kicker. Nielsen reportedly has an internal goal of being able to measure video viewing on an iPad by the end of 2013.
For now, Nielsen isn’t commenting on the supposed revision to its ratings monitoring practices. But trusted sources say the change is a done deal.
