How do you watch your favorite TV show? On your iPad when laying in bed? Streaming it through Netflix on your Xbox 360? Downloading it on iTunes or Amazon for a couple bucks after it airs? Unless you’re watching it through your cable box, Nielsen, the team that publishes TV ratings, isn’t able to track you properly. That might change, though, as a recent report suggests that Nielsen is going to enter the modern age and begin including ratings data for shows watched through steaming services like Netflix and on devices like the iPad and Xbox. Networks have complained for years that their shows’ actual ratings haven’t been properly tallied. This is a step to fix that. The report says that by September, Nielsen will introduce new hardware and software into the homes it uses to gauge ratings. If all goes well, shows with a less traditional viewer base like Community might get a better shot at sticking around for a few years.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.