Broadcasters looking to leverage the popularity among consumers of watching television on their favorite Internet-connected device, while maintaining the ad-supported programming model that’s historically propelled the industry, need a reliable, verifiable way to measure viewership on second-screen devices.
That is why that this week’s successful conclusion of a two-week trial to capture and measure data about viewing content of mobile devices is important. Nielsen and Syncbak — the streaming company that lets viewers watch live, in-market broadcast television on smartphones, media tablets and other Internet-connected devices — said on June 4 that the trial verified broadcasters can measure online and mobile viewing using the Syncbak technology.
Working with CBS, which is a strategic investor in Syncbak, Nielsen conducted the test with four CBS-owned TV stations in New York and Los Angeles, including WCBS, WLNY, KCBS and KCAL. During the trial, Nielsen successfully captured all viewing.
“As consumers access programming in new ways, content creators and providers need viewing on all platforms to be captured,” said David Poltrack, Chief Research Officer at CBS. “Local television stations play a critical role in this delivery ecosystem.”
“With the success of this trial, we now know we can obtain measureable credit for the in-market mobile viewing of our content and do so in a way that is monetizable,” he added.
Jerry Perry, CEO of Syncbak, said the trial advances the viewing of broadcast content on mobile devices for key players in the broadcast ecosystem.
“As the industry looks to deliver live in-market television to mobile devices, it is imperative that all parties involved, ranging from broadcasters to station owners to content creators, know that Nielsen can accurately count the viewing,” he said. “This trial allows us to move forward in pairing local viewers with local content in a way that helps all of our various industry partners.”
