Nielsen Launches Digital Content Ratings

Nielsen said its Digital Content Ratings will be fully syndicated beginning Sept. 30, allowing media companies and media buyers to compare audiences for video and text online using metrics that are similar to television.

"Delivering syndicated Digital Content Ratings is a tremendous milestone, and provides publishers, agencies and advertisers powerful insights that help them understand the full value of their content across digital platforms," said Megan Clarken, president of product leadership, Nielsen. "This is the next step in the transformation of measurement as we know it."

Nielsen is in the process of rolling out its Total Audience Measurement framework, designed to measure media consumption on all platforms in a consistent way.

Related: Nielsen Says Live TV Viewing Fell Slightly

Syndicated clients for Digital Content Ratings include A+E, ABC, AOL, BuzzFeed, Discovery, Freeform, Gawker, Kik, Mashable, PopSugar, TasteMade and Vice.

Nielsen Digital Content Ratings is based on a methodology complementary to that of Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings.

Related: Nielsen Sees 0.8% Drop In Pay-TV Homes in October

“A+E Networks offers consumers a diverse communications environment, ranging from television networks to websites to mobile apps and OTT services," said Don Robert, executive VP, research & analytics, A+E Networks. "Adopting Nielsen Digital Content Ratings will give us the ability to see our brands' audiences across platforms using metrics comparable to TV ratings."

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.