Nielsen offers second-by-second viewership data

LOS ANGELES, - Television audience tracking firm the Nielsen Company has begun offering second-by-second viewership data to the first TV client to sign up for the service, providing insight into how many viewers watch each commercial, the company saidTuesday.

Nielsen's deal with the National Geographic Channel comes as the company, which for years has offered minute-by-minute data, faces pressure from advertisers for more effective ways to track viewership of commercials.

"This is not a revolution, but it's an important step forward in the ability to provide insight," said Gary Holmes, a spokesman for Nielsen.

The data will help advertisers tell if viewers tune out in the middle of their commercial, and to decide if their ad is best placed at the beginning, middle or end of a commercial break, Holmes said.

Nielsen relies on data from about 330,000 set-top boxes in Los Angeles to track viewership second-by-second. The company gained access to the set-top box data under a deal with cable provider Charter Communications announced in March.

Officials with the National Geographic Channel, a joint venture with Fox Cable Networks , said they have already started using the data to make changes in the way shows such as "Locked Up Abroad" are structured, with the aim of holding viewers through commercial breaks.

"A minute seems like a short amount of time, but when you're sitting down watching TV, a minute is a very long time. Every second counts," said Brad Dancer, a National Geographic Channel executive.

Nielsen is the leading TV viewership tracking firm, but competitors such as TNS Media Intelligence also offer second-by-second viewership data.

Dancer said that the advantage of getting the data from Nielsen is that it allows his channel to get all its viewership information from one source.

The second-by-second data Nielsen gets from set-top boxes does not provide demographic information on who is watching, including crucial details such as the age and gender of viewers.

That data comes from the standard Nielsen ratings the company provides to its clients.

But analysis of the set-top box data Nielsen already has gathered has revealed that viewers are more likely to stay tuned in through the commercials for dramas and cartoons than for sports programming, Holmes said. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

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