Facebook Will Help Nielsen Track TV And Video Audiences On PCs And Smartphones

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Nielsen, the company that has tracked TV viewers' habits for decades, announced that it would add viewers of online video to its TV ratings system. That means that viewers of hit TV shows that stream video on their phones, tablets, or PCs will be measured alongside audiences that tune in on their traditional TV sets. The measurement will take place via a software development kit or SDK that developers of video-driven websites or mobile apps can use. Digital-native content will be given ratings that make its audiences comparable to those of TV-originated content.

Nielsen has been gearing up for this cross-channel measurement for a long time. In April, the company partnered with a number of broadcasters for a trial run of the new program.

Facebook is explicitly mentioned as a data partner that will provide demographic information in a "privacy safe" data to help Nielsen measure video-viewing on mobile devices.

How Facebook benefits is still unclear. Nielsen could be paying Facebook for the data or vice versa.

Mechanics of the relationship aside, the news is yet another indicator of Facebook's growing interest in video. (Nielsen)

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