Nielsen redefines the definition of TV

TV is rapidly moving from a 100 million household world to a billion+ screen world. This was officially validated last week when Nielsen decided to change the way it defines television to include non-traditional sources of TV viewing such as Internet-connected devices in its TV ratings sample households, and will make those changes effective with the start of the 2013-14 television season in September. The two most significant implications of those changes are that Nielsen will begin including Internet-only TV households in its sample, and will also start measuring viewing on Internet-connected TVs in its existing sample households.

While Nielsen will also modify its official TV universe estimates as a result of the changes, executives said the impact will only be about six-tenths of a percentage point. The material impact on actual TV ratings and usage levels is expected to be small when the changes are made, but Nielsen executive said they need to make the changes now because the role of Internet-connected TV is likely to grow and become more of a factor in the future.

One of the most interesting aspects of the change is the fact that Nielsen will be including so-called “zero TV profile” households in its samples — homes that don’t receive any traditional TV signals via terrestrial, satellite or cable TV. While they represent a small percentage of total viewing, and typically are either younger (college or post-college) or economically challenged households, their demographics and behaviors will be new to television audience measurement, and could represent valuable insights for the future as more homes become Internet-only connected.

Nielsen has been weighing both sides, but made the decision to redefine television now, because the changes manifesting in the way consumers actually watch television are moving so fast.

A second phase of the redefinition of television that would include viewing on wireless connected devices including smartphones, tablets and even TVs connected to wireless gadgets is planned for the near future, but a firm date has not yet been set.