Nielsen and Twitter Partner to Measure Social TV Reach

Will build off of SocialGuide platform, be available 2013-14 season

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/17/2012 12:36:18 PM

Nielsen and Twitter have agreed to a multiyear partnership that will a deliver a syndicated-standard metric to measure social TV audiences, called the "Nielsen Twitter TV Rating."

The new service is expected to be available commercially at the beginning of the fall 2013-14 season.

These ratings will build on top of NM Incite's SocialGuide audience engagement analytics platform.  NM Incite is a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey & Co. SocialGuide measures Twitter TV activity for all U.S. programming across 234 channels in English and Spanish, and more than 36,000 programs. 

"The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating is a significant step forward for the industry, particularly as programmers develop increasingly captivating live TV and new second-screen experiences, and advertisers create integrated ad campaigns that combine paid and earned media," said Steve Hasker, president, global media products and advertiser solutions at Nielsen. "As a media measurement leader we recognize that Twitter is the preeminent source of real-time television engagement data."

"This effort reflects Nielsen's foresight into the evolving nature of the TV viewing experience, and we're looking forward to collaborating with Twitter ecosystem partners on this metric to help broadcasters and advertisers create truly social TV experiences," added Chloe Sladden, Twitter's VP of media.