Nielsen’s latest Gauge report will be delayed to March 24 as a result of an adjustment in the monthly analysis’ methodology.
The upcoming report will incorporate DASH universe estimates from the Advertising Research Foundation, which are accredited by the Media Rating Council. The MRC’s TV committee, which is made up of more than 80 of Nielsen’s clients, “overwhelmingly drove” the swift adoption of the new estimates, the measurement firm said.
“Over the course of several months, we communicated this change to our clients through product notifications, webinars and MRC meetings before it was implemented at the end of January,” a Nielsen spokesperson told TheWrap. “When we began our standard monthly Gauge previews with clients this week, some clients requested additional data around DASH implementation. We will be providing them with that information. As a result, we are delaying the release of The Gauge one week to coincide with The Media Distributor Gauge release on March 24.”
ARF’s DASH survey, which is conducted in partnership with the polling firm NORC at the University of Chicago, captures detailed information about every television in the home, including its brand, location, age and connection type, as well as all service providers. It also itemizes the ownership and usage of video-capable mobile devices and collects insights on both individual and co-viewing behaviors.
The survey’s sample is drawn from NORC’s nationally representative probability-based AmeriSpeak panel and is fielded twice per year to capture seasonal variation, with the data combined into annual estimates. The DASH survey has been conducted for five years, interviewing approximately 10,000 adults annually.
In the short term, the change will result in a lift in viewership for cable and broadcast and a decline in streaming. But Nielsen expects viewership trends to hold, with streaming set to grow over the long term. The spokesperson noted that the change, “more accurately reflects the TV landscape” and will “enable a smoother transition and give clients and the industry a better holistic view of February viewing.”
Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel TV ratings measurement is based on data from cable, satellite set-top boxes and smart TVs across 45 million households and 75 million devices, as well as a panel of 100,000 people.
