Nielsen and Comcast’s FreeWheel on Tuesday laid out plans to expand TV measurement across OTT and set-top box VOD inventory, in an effort to help marketers capitalize on the expanding overall TV ecosystem.
The initiative seeks to deliver additional digital video platforms for programmers, MVPDs, agencies and advertisers to effectively reach viewers and will offer advertisers additional impressions through FreeWheel’s Advertisers, Markets and Publishers divisions, the companies said.
The move comes about six months after the pair began integrating Comcast’s non-personally identifiable aggregated TV viewing data with Nielsen’s panel data.
“Nielsen is committed to building measurement solutions that account for the entire television ecosystem, from linear and — in view of our plans with Comcast and FreeWheel — across over-the top and set-top box video on demand inventory,” said Megan Clarken, global president of Watch at Nielsen, in a statement. “This solution will be critical to further unlock the power of television, wherever and however a consumer is watching that content.”
“The work Comcast and FreeWheel will be doing with Nielsen to make television, in all its forms, data-enabled, targetable and measurable is another step to unify TV as a platform,” said Marcien Jenckes, president of advertising at Comcast Cable. “These efforts will add to the robust picture of viewership trends, further strengthening the currency used by the entire TV industry.”
Expect more details about the initiative ahead of the 2019 TV Upfront.