Nielsen Expands Smart TV Data Deal with VIZIO’s Inscape for Local and National TV Viewership

Nielsen expands rights to use Inscape ACR data from approximately 20 million VIZIO TVs, obtains first window of exclusivity to VIZIO’s newly expanded local station coverage

Nielsen  and VIZIO  announced a multi-year agreement that provides Nielsen with precise glass-level viewership data powered by Inscape Smart TV data. The deal includes a period of exclusivity for data gathered on an expanded roster of 400 local stations that will be processed around the clock by Inscape’s systems.

Nielsen, which licensed Inscape for national addressable measurement starting in 2021, now has the rights from VIZIO to integrate Inscape data in both its local and national audience measurement solutions. Through this agreement, Nielsen can now add big data from a pool of approximately 20 million Smart TVs, a key enhancement that includes incremental coverage for 400 stations across local U.S. markets that currently include Local People Meter, Set Meter and Portable People Meter panels.

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“At Nielsen, we have a commitment to the industry to continue to innovate and improve for the future. This agreement with one of the premier Smart TV manufacturers, for both national and local measurement, further validates our commitment,” said Peter Bradbury, Chief Commercial Officer, Nielsen. “Having millions of devices covered by ACR is incredible for our audience measurement, and when these big data sets are verified and enhanced by real human behavior, which only Nielsen can do, this represents the future of media measurement.”

“As viewing trends shift and audiences fragment across different services, Inscape has been at the forefront of powering products that are better for the consumer experience and bringing greater transparency and scale to the measurement sector,” said Mike O’Donnell, Chief Revenue and Engagement Officer at VIZIO. “We’re excited to work with Nielsen and for the inclusion of our opted-in viewing data in Nielsen’s services as we continue to help the entire TV marketplace evolve.”

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VIZIO’s Inscape data captures viewing data from millions of connected TV devices (including cable box, set top box , DVR, etc.) and streaming environments. ACR data provides scale, granularity and timely insights, enabling greater understanding of what is being watched in millions of U.S. households by measuring content on the TV glass, regardless of source.

Nielsen’s panels will be used to validate what is missing in big data sets, including complete representation, over-the-air inclusion, validation of diverse representation, understanding when the TV is on or off, and persons-level measurement. Nielsen will be launching big data into its national TV measurement beginning in September, a major step towards the launch of Nielsen ONE, the forthcoming single, deduplicated solution for cross-media measurement.