Sometime this summer, Nielsen will begin providing information about who is watching what when they’re away from home. For a long time, many in the television industry have complained that they don’t get “credit” for people watching their programming in hotels, bars, gyms, etc. Now, according to Media Post, the “Nielsen Out-of-Home Report” may be about to change all that.
The data that covers viewing of national broadcast and cable networks will be culled from a panel of 4,700. Panelists will carry cell phones from AT&T that run the software that allows tracking of the exposure to programs (participants receive $50 a month).
At the local level, Nielsen plans to begin in six markets by the end of September. Those markets include New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Denver.
Nielsen estimates that as much as 8% of TV viewing takes place outside the home.
