NIELSEN REINSTATES OUT-OF-HOME AUDIENCE TV MEASUREMENT PLAN

Nielsen will move forward plan to integrate out-of-home TV viewing into the national TV currency measurement starting in September 2020, as originally planned. The company will also provide additional data on out-of-home behavior to help you interpret behavior shifts during the pandemic. “Our concern was about consumer behavior and not the Nielsen methodology. While out-of-home audiences have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, our methodology is strong and the data is reflective of consumer behavior,” Neilsen said in a release.

Initially, the global measurement and data analytics company warned the public about delaying the integrate of out-of-home audiences into the national TV currency this fall. After receiving a large amount of backlash from TV networks, Nielsen was expected to reverse the inclusion of “out of home” viewers' resources of national TV ratings.

Nielsen spoke with several senior ad-sales executives from TV giants, informing them about how it intends to count out-of-home viewers during the fall season as it had initially planned. An apology from Nielsen to its clients is expected as part of the discussions, according to three of these people. The measurement firm unveiled its decision earlier this week without informing the networks in advance. “We regret any disruption we may have caused you, your customers and the market this week,”  Nielsen's statement wrote. “Going forward, we are committed to ensuring a more complete, inclusive, and transparent process as the currency evolves with changing consumer behavior.”

The plan for people to watch the next TV season outside of their homes has previously been announced. In September 2019, Nielsen said it would be able to add viewers watching TV shows invarius places, and showcase a potential boon to the networks as viewers turn to streaming alterantives like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.