Because guys don't buy Tide

So I'm listening in on a teleconference call this morning with Nielsen Media Research, which is announcing that it will begin tracking DVR ratings next week, and VOD ratings next spring. Well, OK, so Nielsen is crawling into the 21st century on some fronts. But I couldn't help noticing that on one front, it is already there and it's the rest of the world that's playing catchup.

Nielsen has a female CEO. She wasn't even on this call, but her lieutenants were, and many of them are women. In fact, five out of fifteen of the company's top executives are women.

All right, not much of a headline. But jump to the press release and I think you'll agree that my announcement trumps theirs.   

NIELSEN TO DELIVER NATIONAL TV RATINGS WITH DVR VIEWING INCLUDED

Three Streams of Ratings Available to the Industry Starting the First Week of January 2006

New York, December 21, 2005 – Nielsen Media Research today announced that it will provide national TV audience estimates that include viewing from Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) beginning with the week of December 26, 2005.

The first national “overnight” ratings reflecting timeshifted viewing will be available to Nielsen clients on December 28, 2005. 

“Nielsen is keeping pace with the evolving ways that people watch television, thereby ensuring that our ratings continue to be accurate and reliable,” said Sara Erichson, Nielsen’s General Manager of National Services.  “The introduction of audience estimates for DVR is a major milestone in ratings history and will provide the most detailed information ever on how and when people watch television.”

Starting December 26, all programs and networks will now receive 3 separate ratings:

• Live Ratings – Those who view programs at the time they initially are aired, excluding any DVR playback.


• Live+Same Day (SD) Ratings – Viewers watching live, as well as those who played back programs on a DVR on the same day of the initial airing.


• Live+7 Day Ratings – Viewers watching live, as well as those who played back programs on a DVR within a week of the initial airing.

Media reporters will be able to find all 3 streams of ratings on Nielsen’s online Press Room.   All reports will be clearly labeled.

The Live and Live+SD ratings will be delivered to clients concurrently on a daily basis.   Data from the Live+7 ratings will be delivered to clients two weeks following the completion of each Monday – Sunday week.

The first weekly program rankings with timeshifted viewing included will be available to the media on Wednesday, January 6, 2006 through Nielsen’s online Press Room.

The traditional season-to-date estimates will be based on a combination of Live+SD viewing for the current two weeks and Live+7 viewing for all weeks prior. 

Prior to reporting timeshifted ratings, Nielsen will schedule a special briefing session for the media on December 21 to explain the new timeshifted ratings charts.   

About Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is the world's leading provider of television audience measurement and advertising information services. In the United States, Nielsen's National People Meter service provides audience estimates for all national program sources, including broadcast networks, cable networks, Spanish language networks, and national syndicators. Local ratings estimates are produced for television stations, regional cable networks, MSOs, cable interconnects, and Spanish language stations in each of the 210 television markets in the U.S., including electronic metered service in 56 markets. Nielsen Media Research is part of VNU Media Measurement & Information, a global leader in information services for the media and entertainment industries. VNU is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands and New York, USA. VNU is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam (ASE: VNU) stock exchange. For more information, please visit the VNU website at www.vnu.com.