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Nielsen’s industry-leading U.S. National TV Panel reaches over 42,000 households, comprised of 101,000 directly measured viewers

4 minute read | August 2022

Panel assets surpass 500,000+ individuals across multiple platforms paving the way to creating a robust ID system for measurement in the digital media ecosystem 

NEW YORK Aug. 10, 2022 – Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN), a global leader in media measurement and analytics, announced that its U.S. National TV panel reached 42,000 households, covering 101,000 directly measured viewers. This includes a subset of 21,000 households that are part of Nielsen’s streaming meter panel, which the company plans to continue to grow over time. Nielsen meters and recruits this group of panelists to be representative of the U.S. census data to enable Nielsen’s data to be demographically and geographically representative of national and local markets. 

The company also reiterated that it has completed the vast majority of success criteria required for re-accreditation for its National TV Ratings Service and expects to complete the required audit components in the next quarter.

“We are extremely proud of hitting the milestone of steadily maintaining at or above the target of 42,000 panel households, and the progress we have made in building a robust ID system for the digital ecosystem on our road to Nielsen ONE,” said Karthik Rao, Chief Operating Officer, Nielsen. “We continue to be one of the only media measurement companies that provides fully independent, audited and representative data in the marketplace.”

Expanding panel assets; Key to building Nielsen ID System

Nielsen’s proprietary people-based panels are a key differentiator for the company. In total, the company now has over 500,000 people who have agreed to be a panelist across TV, digital and audio with approaches ranging from direct metering to data calibration and validation.  

Nielsen’s large-scale, non-metered Participant Panel, a component of Nielsen’s Digital panel, totals more than 250,000 individuals who have provided rich demographic data which can be used, at scale, to validate and correct third-party data sets in areas such as content and advertising exposures. The data from this group of panelists is critical in building audience validation methodologies to deduplicate across the open web and walled gardens.

Nielsen continues to make enhancements to its ID System to  deliver holistic, people-based measurement across  platforms and publishers and deduplicate devices, content and ad exposures in light of the impending deterioration of digital identifiers. In addition, the Nielsen ID System will help drive interoperability with the ecosystem, breaking down data silos and harmonizing audience data from third-party providers in its cross-media solution, Nielsen ONE.

“As we move toward a cross platform world, the need for data validated by real people only grows,” added Rao. “Nielsen’s comprehensive panel strategy, underpinned by real people, is helping media buyers and sellers understand what content viewers are seeking out, what ads viewers are exposed to, as well as the demographic characteristics of who is watching what and on which device.”

Nielsen plans to further strengthen its ID system with Participant Panel data expanding its ability to validate and correct external datasets within the Nielsen ID System. It plans to increase the directly measured footprint across computer and mobile building a truth set for deduplication – what a panelist viewed on TV, what they viewed online or mobile device, and what they viewed on both platforms. 

Panel typeTotal panelistsPurpose
National Television 101,000+ people42,000+ householdsRepresentative metered panel to measure real consumer viewing on the TV glass 
Local Television only 25,000+ people11,000+ householdsRepresentative metered panel to measure real consumer viewing on the TV glass for local markets only
Audio / PPM77,000+ peopleMetered panelists in 48 markets audio consumption for radio


In 44 markets these panelists also measure out-of-home TV viewing
Digital 75,000+ peopleMetered panelists to measure ad and content exposure across computer, mobile and cross-platform
Participant250,000+ peopleNon-metered, Digital Panelists to enhance our measured panel assets including big data calibration and identity validation

About Nielsen

Nielsen shapes the world’s media and content as a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviors across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their audiences—now and into the future.

An S&P 500 company, Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) operates around the world in more than 55 countries.  Learn more at www.nielsen.com or www.nielsen.com/investors and connect with us on social media.

Contact

John Casey
Nielsen
john.casey@nielsen.com