Nielsen signs on beIN Sports for Total Audience Measurement

Nielsen announced that network group beIN Sports signed a long-term agreement to use several products within Nielsen’s Total Audience offering.

Under the agreement, Nielsen says that beIN Sports will become one of the first sports networks to be certified for Nielsen's Digital in TV Ratings measurement, which received MRC accreditation for tracking programming viewed on PCs and mobile devices. The networks will also have access to Nielsen Digital Content Ratings and Nielsen Total Content Ratings.

"Sports has the unique ability to unify people regardless of boundaries and personal differences. At beIN SPORTS we believe in making available the best sports content to our fans regardless of platform, location and device," said Antonio Briceño, deputy managing director at beIN SPORTS, in a statement. "Nielsen Total Audience measurement provides us with complete visibility into how our viewers are engaged with our programs regardless of ad load. In addition, we are confident in Nielsen's linear and digital measurement capabilities as they enable us to effectively monetize our inventory and provide the confidence media buyers require to deliver better cross-screen campaign results to advertisers."

"Having cross-platform metrics that enable insights into what consumers are watching is critical for the long-term business success of any media company. beIN SPORTS' adoption of Nielsen Total Audience will enable them to better monetize their complete audience regardless of platform or device," said Peter Bradbury, managing director of Nielsen National Television Client Solutions, in a statement. "The Media Rating Council's accreditation of Nielsen Digital in TV Ratings, will provide networks like beIN SPORTS the confidence when they use this data to discuss the value of delivering an advertiser's commercials within linear content across digital platforms. We are excited to welcome beIN SPORTS to Nielsen's growing list of DTVR subscribers and look forward to growing our relationship."

RELATED: Nielsen changing Total Audience Measurement product after pressure from NBCU, Fox

The new Total Audience deal with beIN Sports represents a win for Nielsen as the ratings firm has been battling blowback from programmers and broadcasters over its new measurement products.

In January, Nielsen announced it was making changes to Total Audience Measurement after several media companies complained about the product, though Nielsen said that changes were not happening because of the pushback.

Last year, according to The Wall Street Journal, Linda Yaccarino, chairman of advertising sales at NBCUniversal, expressed “deep concerns” over what she called an “incomplete and inconsistent” Total Content Ratings product. She pointed toward the product’s limited involvement from pay-TV operators and incomplete OTT measurement, which currently excludes services like Hulu, which is part-owned by NBC.

The report said that Viacom is also concerned about the product.