Nielsen says local TV measurement overhaul is complete

Nielsen today said that it has completed a multiyear overhaul of its local television measurement service across 208 local markets in the U.S.

The ratings firm said it worked with partners to provide the marketplace with “unbiased, higher quality, more reliable measurement with greater stability and less variation from week to week.”

"As the currency provider for TV measurement, Nielsen is the reliable, independent, source of truth that the market trades on daily," said Catherine Herkovic, executive vice president and managing director of Nielsen Local TV, in a statement. "We have built a business on trust, integrity and transparency. Our local TV measurement solutions reflect this with innovative technology and big data, validated by scientifically designed panels for TV and cross platform measurement. Only Nielsen provides this to the marketplace. We are thrilled to bring these improvements to the market as we continue to provide best-in-class trusted measurement."

RELATED: Nielsen moves its national TV measurement product to Amazon’s cloud

Nielsen replaced paper diary measurement with electronic measurement in 137 designated market areas (DMAs) in summer 2018 and, starting tomorrow, the company said delivery of data in the 71 remaining DMAs will feature the deployment of Portable People Meter (PPM) measurement integrated with existing TV panels in all 25 Local People Meter markets and 19 Set-Meter markets. The company said the addition of more than 2 million return path data households and national panel homes provides clients increased sample size for improved stability and reliability.

"The local TV environment has changed and the industry has long awaited developments in measurement that capture the myriad viewing preferences of our audiences," said Wendy McMahon, president of ABC Owned Television Stations Group, in a statement. "Nielsen's Local TV measurement delivers greater accuracy and stability on the audience's size and composition giving us a better understanding of audience behavior and delivering greater ROI to our advertisers. The ABC Owned TV Stations are already seeing gains across all dayparts with these advancements in measurement."