Nielsen is now including certain views from Hulu and YouTube in with its traditional television ratings, it was announced this week.
The company announced on its website Tuesday that “viewing from Hulu and YouTube TV will now be measured and reported through Digital in TV Ratings (DTVR), contributing to C3/C7 currency.”
“DTVR combines the digital viewing of live, DVR and on-demand TV with the traditional linear TV audience metrics, which will enable us to measure audiences watching linear TV through Hulu and YouTube TV on desktops, tablets, and smartphones," the release said.
The company added that “whether it’s a computer or mobile device, if a viewer watches a program on these services and sees the same commercials that ran when the program first aired on TV, we will be able to count their viewing into the program’s standard TV ratings.”
Megan Clarken, president of product leadership at Nielsen, said this marks an exciting move for the industry, as it's the first time big, digital distribution platforms are officially included in the ratings.
“We are now following the consumer as they move across their video experience, not just on the TV glass but on digital devices like smart phones, tablets and their PCs," Clarken said in a video promo on Nielsen's site.
Speaking about the inclusion of YouTube into the ratings system, Heather Moosnick, the director of content partnerships for YouTube TV, said the streaming channel was built to bring the most popular "must-watch" TV to video streaming audiences.
“We’re already seeing that live TV represents the majority of time spent watching on the service. Our network and advertising partners will benefit from Nielsen DTVR measurement of YouTube TV.”
Looking ahead, TechCrunch wondered whether Nielsen would be measuring other streaming services. However, Clarken said she could not make any predictions.
"The doors are open for those players who want to be lined up side-by-side and measured in a comparable way to traditional TV," she said.
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