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Nielsen will finally start tracking Netflix and Amazon video
Nielsen, the holy vanguard of television ratings, has finally figured out how to track viewership from Netflix and Amazon's streaming video services. And when it launches next month, it could fundamentally change the sorts of shows you see from them. Since neither Netflix or Amazon offer detailed viewership data, Nielsen has developed a way for its rating meters to track shows by identifying their audio, the Wall Street Journal reports. While it won't track mobile viewers, it will help level the playing field for content owners when negotiating streaming deals, who have so far been clueless about how their shows are performing on Netflix and Amazon. That might lead to some of your favorite shows disappearing, but it could mean streaming data will help decide wether that show you've been binge watching gets cancelled.
Nielsen and Adobe are teaming up to apply TV-style ratings to the internet
You've probably heard of the Nielsen Ratings, which are the figures relating to the number of people who watch a particular TV series. It's these statistics that Hollywood uses to decide if your favorite show gets a second season or if it'll only live on in fan fiction. Unfortunately, with more and more entertainment being delivered online, a TV ratings company isn't much use to anyone. That's why Nielsen has teamed up with Adobe to begin rating pretty much everything on the internet. By splicing Nielsen's audience know-how with Adobe's online analytics and video tools, the pair promise to be able to work out which gets more attention: news websites, social media, blogs or that video of the cat running head-first into a glass door. The system will go live at some point in 2015 with Sony, ESPN and Viacom already saying that they'll be signing up, hopefully so that we can finally find out, once and for all, if anything is more enjoyable than that video of the cat running head-first into the glass door.
Nielsen admits a software glitch has been screwing up recent TV ratings
Fist the bad news: No, Firefly isn't coming back. But, if you've ever felt like the ratings system didn't accurately represent the popularity of your favorite show, this might be something to take note of. Today The Nielsen Company issued a statement admitting it found a "technical error that impacts national network television ratings over several months." The problem apparently didn't apply to cable networks or local TV, but given their impact on billions of dollars in advertising, even a small problem can be significant. According to reports ABC benefited from the glitch, which became more noticeable as the fall premieres rolled out. For several days in a row, the network's TV shows always gained ratings between early morning quick estimates, and later more complete reports. The error started on March 2nd, but Nielsen says it will reprocess data going back to August 18th, when the first network fall premiere aired -- maybe next time they'll stick to just counting Tweets.
We now spend more time using smartphones than surfing the web on PCs
It's no secret that mobile devices outsell PCs these days. However, we now know that they're taking up more of our free time, too. A new Nielsen study finds that Americans, Brits and Italians spend more hours using their smartphones in a given month than they do surfing the web from computers. The gap is particularly wide in Italy, where locals spend 37 hours per month on their phones versus a mere 18 hours browsing from their PCs. Not surprisingly, social networking is the biggest lure -- users spend roughly a quarter of their phone time using Facebook, Twitter and other social apps. While it's doubtful that every country will be quite so eager to ditch the desktop, it's clear that companies will have to focus more of their efforts on mobile if they really want our attention.
Two-thirds of Americans now have smartphones
The US has officially become a smartphone nation -- at least, if you ask Nielsen. The research group's latest Digital Consumer Report estimates that 65 percent of all Americans owned one of the devices in 2013. That's a big step up from 44 percent in 2011, and smartphones are now more common than game consoles (46 percent) and digital cable (54 percent). Americans are also increasingly tech-laden, with an average of four devices per person; 29 percent of them have a tablet versus just 5 percent two years ago. That shift toward mobile is affecting how many spend their free time. Americans spent an average of 34 hours per month using mobile apps and browsers in 2013; that's more time than they spent online with their PCs, which chewed up 27 hours. Social networking use is declining on the desktop, too, while it's surging in mobile. Smartphones aren't as ubiquitous as TVs at this stage, but they've clearly taken hold of the public consciousness.
Billboard: Digital music sales decrease for the first time ever, vinyl continues to grow
It was inevitable: After years of highs and then a plateau, digital music sales saw their first decrease in 2013. Last year, digital song purchases dropped almost six percent according to a Billboard report, while digital album sales dropped 0.1 percent. Compact discs continued their downward spiral as well, and took a 14.5 percent loss. On the flip side, pure analog music (read: vinyl) showed an increase of 31.9 percent -- representing a full two percent of music sales. Until Nielsen's SoundScan report for streaming hits, however, we won't know how much of an impact the likes of Spotify or Rdio are having on purchases. We have a hunch it'll be rather telling. [Image credit: karola riegler photography/Flickr]
Nielsen: Users embracing smartphone apps while ditching traditional web services
'Tis the season for year-end lists and summaries galore, and Nielsen is no exception to this rule. The company has just released its list of the top 10 web brands, online video brands and smartphone apps, and its findings reveal a growing trend that may not come as a surprise to anyone: More people are using smartphones, and they're using them to access the most popular services out there, instead of their web-based counterparts. In these aforementioned lists, Nielsen also discusses how each brand has changed year-over-year; web brands have all decreased, online video brands are relatively flat and smartphone apps are skyrocketing in overall usage. Let's take a look at a few services in particular. Google was the top web brand for 2013, yet it saw a decrease in unique visitors by 6 percent from last year (and YouTube dropped by 14 percent). That said, these two brands represented five of the top 10 smartphone apps, with growth ranging from 14 percent to as high as 29 percent. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Facebook experienced a very similar trend, with a 16 percent decrease in web traffic versus a 27 percent increase in its smartphone app numbers, making it the most-used service of the year. In addition, social networks like Instagram and Twitter grew by leaps and bounds, earning each of them a spot among the top 10 apps; Instagram, in particular, was the fastest growing app on the list. (Also, here's a shameless plug for our parent company as the seventh most-popular web brand.) Finally, Nielsen also reported that nearly two-thirds of US phone subscribers -- 65 percent, to be specific -- are now using smartphones instead of featurephones, which is a solid jump up from 56 percent at the end of 2012. Of those subscribers, 52 percent are now using Android devices, while 41 percent use iOS and 7 percent use other platforms (BlackBerry is at 3 percent, while Windows Phone is at 2 percent). Head below the break to see all of the fine details for yourself.
Majority of mobile users now use smartphones, blame those pesky teens
Nielsen's mobile report for Q3 2013 shows that more and more teens have convinced their parents to get them smartphones, especially during back-to-school season. Usage of non-dumb devices among those in the 13 to 17 year-old range has reached 70 percent, a nice 12 point growth over September last year. A prodigious 79 percent of all users aged 18 to 24 are also toting smartphones, contributing to the 64.7 percent total of all US mobile owners who have now traded their feature phones for something more advanced. Android continues to lead the battle of the operating systems with 52 percent, though it's held that share since mid-2012. While Apple's iOS trails close behind with 41 percent, it actually tops the list of smartphone makers in terms of OS share. Despite Cupertino's continued reign in the hardware department, Samsung's market slice by OS has increased by 2 percent, while Nokia and HTC saw a slight bump, thanks to their new Windows Phone models. Meanwhile, BlackBerry held steady at 3 percent despite its billion dollar loss in the second quarter. If you digest numbers better with a side of images, check Nielsen's charts after the break. [Image credit: AFS-USA Intercultural Program, Flickr]
Nielsen to add web viewers to future TV ratings, with a little help from Facebook
After several months of testing within the industry, Nielsen is finally ready to reveal its efforts to bake mobile viewing habits into its TV ratings system. In a wider roll-out of what the company already monitors, it'll launch an SDK for participating broadcasters in mid-November that will encompass both old-fashioned screens and those not-so-new upstarts (including DVRs, internet-connected TVs, tablets, smartphones and browsers). To work out which stream is being watched where, Nielsen will parse together "big data and a census-style measurement approach." This will apparently match demographic information through social networks, mentioning Facebook explicitly -- the ratings monitor is already involved with Twitter. It'll also know exactly which device viewers are watching content on thanks to "audio watermarks, metadata or tags associated with the content and related advertising." The aim, after all this work, is for Nielsen to accurately reveal who's watching TV ads and, concurrently, who's watching Scandal elsewhere.
Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings launch with ABC's Scandal in the top spot this week
Nielsen announced late last year that it would create a rating system to track how much engagement TV shows are getting on Twitter, and now the list is available. The system tracks the number of tweets about a particular TV episode (sports events are excluded) and the number of people posting about it, as well as the number of times those tweets were seen and by how many accounts. Nielsen reports that sometimes the amount of action on Twitter aligns closely with viewer ratings -- the Breaking Bad finale topped the week of September 23rd on Twitter -- but shows like CBS sitcoms top traditional ratings without causing much conversation. This week, ABC's Scandal topped the list as Miley Cyrus accounted for the next two spots with her MTV special and Saturday Night Live episode. All of this comes at a crucial time for Twitter as it nears its IPO and seeks a path to profitability, which may be fueled by its use as a companion for TV watching. Whether or not this helps broadcasters focus on the best of TV programming remains to be seen, or if our screens will be so full of hashtags there won't be anything left to watch.
Nielsen study shows connection between TV ratings and Twitter activity
In recent years, social media has altered the way we interact with each other, and according to a Nielsen study released today, it's also changing the way we consume media. While it may sound like a common sense conclusion to anyone who witnessed the storm of tweets surrounding the SyFy phenomenon Sharknado, Nielsen has uncovered a statistical link between what people tweet and what people watch. Basically, the more people tweet about a particular show, the more people will watch it. Likewise, the higher a program's viewership, the more likely people are to discuss it on Twitter in real time. Certain types of programming -- reality TV, comedies and sports -- showed a higher percentage of ratings changes influenced by social media, while things like scripted dramas showed a smaller but still noticeable uptick. The times are a-changin', and studies like this one are bound to inspire broadcasters and advertisers to change with them.
Nielsen includes Internet viewers for the first time, estimates that there are now 115.6 million TV homes in the US
Following a tweak in how Nielsen defines homes with TVs, it's noted a reversal in the two-year decline of TV household numbers. This adjustment has apparently increased Nielsen's estimate of TV homes by 1.2 percent, up to 115.6 million. The definition now extends to include viewers that take their TV through broadband internet, with qualifying households having both the high-speed connection and "at least one operable TV/monitor with the ability to deliver video." This new wording encompasses anyone who watches channels through their Xbox, Apple TV and other data-based services. Nielsen will begin including these extra homes in its sampling starting in September, but we're still waiting to see what it does with its wider metrics for both streaming viewers and social networks.
Nielsen preparing 'Digital Program Ratings' pilot program to track streaming viewers
According to the Wall Street Journal, Nielsen's TV ratings are about to get some company, with a system that covers internet watchers. A "Nielsen Digital Program Ratings" pilot program will debut with participation from NBC, Fox, ABC, Univision, Discovery and A&E, tracking the viewership of streaming video they post on their websites. AOL (parent company of Engadget) is also reported to be participating, as the networks compare the data to their internal statistics before the ratings system gets a wider rollout. Of course, even the system they're testing will only jump so far into the future -- while it will track viewing on computers, it's still leaving out phones and tablets. Networks want to track anywhere content is viewed -- one of the issues we've been told they have with tech like Aereo or TWC TV -- to sell ads against it, we'll wait for more details to see if they'll have any success extending the current model to other types of screens.
Nielsen compares mobile consumers across the globe, details the differences in how we connect
Right in-time with MWC, Nielsen's latest report provides some insight into how folks in different regions are using their mobile devices. On the whole, many of the findings aren't exactly shockers. Among many highlights, owners of smartphones and feature phones don't use their respective devices for the same tasks, while developed areas are more likely to have upwards of 4G connectivity with higher smartphone adoption rates. As you'd might imagine, people in regions with under-developed infrastructure tend to gravitate toward the likes of simpler, less costly feature phones. Diving deeper with some specifics, Nielsen points out that US-based users of smartphones gravitate toward map and video apps, contrasting that those in China are hungrier for info about weather and news. If you'd like to confirm any more of your suspicions about how mobile devices are being used across the globe, you'll find all the details your noggin desires at the source link below.
Nielsen ratings expand definition of TV households to include internet-only viewers
The Nielsen Company has monitored TV audiences since 1950, but soon it will expand that definition from solely households with antenna, cable or satellite access, but also those that have dropped those options but still get video over the internet. Reflecting the changing times, the move was first noted by The Hollywood Reporter and confirmed later by company executives to the New York Times and LA Times. Nielsen hinted at changes two years ago when TV ownership dropped for the first time in decades, which may turn around since the new definition includes viewers with internet-connected TVs, and could go further to include viewers with just a tablet or laptop. According to senior VP Pat McDonough, that means views over services like Aereo can be counted, since they still contain advertisements, which is what broadcasters rely on the ratings for, unlike ad-free Netflix or Hulu streams with different ads. Because of that, it seems unlikely the change will boost the numbers of internet darlings like Community or Arrested Development, but we can dream, right?
Nielsen teams up with Twitter to create social TV ratings
Nielsen's long been the gold standard for TV ratings, and as our watching habits change, the firm's reforming its ways to keep track of what we're watching. Earlier this year it combined its online and broadcast metrics to give advertisers a more comprehensive look at a show's reach, and now its going to track how much buzz shows are getting on Twitter. Called the Nielsen Twitter TV Rating, it aims to provide a look at real-time social activity during programming, so networks can provide tailored interactive experiences and better engage with their viewers. What kind of interactive experiences, you ask? We aren't sure just yet, but you can get the full PR spiel touting the nebulous benefits of the forthcoming Twitter tracking after the break.
US kids want an iPad more than a Wii U for the holidays, Nielsen finds
It's worthwhile to note that this Nielsen graph showing the most-wanted tech gadgets for kids age 6 - 12 in the US is titled "Interest in Buying in the Next 6 Months." That's probably an incorrect assertion, since we haven't seen any 8-year-olds working the late shift at McDonald's recently. It should be titled, "Interest in Having Someone Buy This For Me in the Next 6 Months."Kids' holiday wishlists are dominated by the iPad, snagging the top spot from 48 percent of respondents age 6 - 12. Right behind that is the Wii U, with 39 percent. More iDevices complete the top five, though Kinect has 31 percent, and 3DS/3DS XL and other DS models grab 29 and 28 percent, respectively. PS3 comes in with 26 percent, followed by the Xbox 360 with 25 percent. Strangely enough, 18 percent of kids want a PSP, while just 14 percent would take the Vita.In a separate study of people 13 and older, the iPad remains king with 21 percent, making the split more even across all devices. Wii U is fourth in this group with 17 percent, while the PS3 gets 8 percent and the Xbox 360 7 percent. The Vita surpasses the PSP, 4 percent compared with 3 percent.Check out the complete graphs below.
CEA officially brands 4K as Ultra HD, gets ready for a flood of new displays at CES
Now that HDTV is "the new normal" according to Nielsen (its most recent stats say more than 75 percent of US households have one) then naturally, it's time to upgrade to 4K. This week the Consumer Electronics Association officially dubbed such screens -- with characteristics including at least eight million active pixels, and 3,840 x 2,160 resolution, among other things -- Ultra High-Definition, or Ultra HD in order to help educate consumers about the new tech. The ITU already laid down its spec recommendations for Ultra High Definition TV so the industry should be able to move forward in unison pushing super high-res displays across the land. Of course we did say "should," and Sony is already informing media outlets that it plans to market its 4K products as "4K UHD." Whatever it's called, we saw 84-inch screens from multiple manufacturers announced recently, and with the CEA's announcement we're penciling in a few more pixel-dense models for the big Las Vegas show in January.
Nielsen says game consoles get men to use TV more: hurray, we think
We're not sure if we should always cheer figures that reflect sedentary behavior. Still, chalk one up for greater (if superficial) gender equality. Nielsen finds that, as of this past March, men who owned a modern game console like the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Wii were using their TVs almost as much as women: while males in the broader population typically spend 37 fewer minutes in front of the big screen every day than females, that gap shrank to a negligible 11 minutes when console use came into play. Unfortunately, the agency doesn't say just what's getting men to tune in for that much longer. Gaming is the most likely culprit, but a raft of streaming video options could have some of those refined couch potatoes watching Hulu or Netflix instead of playing one more round of Gears of War. If consoles have people of all genders spending more time together, we're in favor of it; given that men still spend over twice as much time on consoles as women, though, it's clear there's still a bridge to cross if we want more of a balance in the kinds of TV activity we enjoy.
Nielsen: more than half of US teens now own smartphones
Yes, we know Android is holding steady at about 52 percent of US smartphone market share. What's interesting is just who's driving growth as a whole. According to Nielsen, 58 percent of American teens between 13 and 17 now have a smartphone -- that's a big jump from 36 percent a year earlier and a sign that the youngest owners have a significant sway over where the market is going. Not that young adults don't have an impact. Although the 25-to-34 crowd isn't making as big a comparative leap, its smartphone ownership has climbed from 59 percent to a dominating 74 percent in the same space of time. No matter how much youth set the pace, it's clear Android is still having an effect. Among the US smartphone buyers Nielsen tracked in the three months leading up to July, 58.6 percent went Google's direction. Most of that gain came from BlackBerry owners switching allegiances, which doesn't bode well when RIM is counting on existing owners to fuel BlackBerry 10 demand. We'd be careful about citing a one-point shrink in iPhone sales as a shift in the balance of power, however -- while it could be part of a trend, it could also represent the habitual lull in Apple's sales during the weeks before a major iPhone introduction.
