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Nielsen is extending coverage of its national TV out-of-home (OOH) panel this year, which the measurement company says will account for 100% of U.S. TV households.
Top line
The company’s OOH reporting system currently monitors 44 markets, and Nielsen’s expansion will now cover all of the continental U.S., excluding Alaska and Hawaii. The data is expected ahead of Super Bowl 59.
Between the lines
The move has a particular implication for live sports ratings, as Nielsen data shows that in 2023, fans in the U.S. spent more than 1.7 trillion minutes watching games from the five most-watched sports leagues.
“Nielsen is highly focused on innovating in order to better serve our clients and ensure our measurement accounts for the full landscape of television consumption,” Deirdre Thomas, chief product officer of audience measurement at Nielsen, said in a statement. “We understand how important it is for our clients to be able to have the most complete picture of the audience, especially for special events like the Super Bowl.”
The news is particularly important for the NFL, which is experiencing record viewership in the leadup to Super Bowl 58 on Feb. 11. Nielsen said that impact data will be available in the fourth quarter of 2024, meaning Super Bowl 59 will be covered.
“We are appreciative of Nielsen’s efforts to make out-of-home measurement more complete, providing a much clearer picture of the true audience for all television viewing and especially sports viewership,” Paul Ballew, chief data and analytics officer of the NFL, said in a statement. “For years we have been consistent in our belief that major sports events, like the upcoming Super Bowl 58, are often viewed with family and friends in large gatherings and this expanded out-of-home viewership will be crucial to measuring those events.”
Bottom line
The measurement company’s OOH expansion comes following the rollout of Nielsen One last year, with Nielsen promising completion by this year.
While last year Nielsen regained national accreditation following its 2021 suspension by the Media Rating Council, the company will not sunset its C3 and C7 ratings by September of 2024, as previously promised.
