Scripps Gets Second-By-Second Ratings From TNS

Scripps Networks Interactive has inked a deal giving it access to second-by-second ratings data for its portfolio of channels that include HGTV and Food Network. The agreement is with TNS Media Research, which is offering the granular data for both live and DVR-enabled viewing.

TNS is deriving the ratings from set-top box data, culled from viewers who have DirecTV.

Michael Pardee, who heads research and analytics at Scripps, said "return-path data available from set-top boxes... enables us to build more robust predictive modeling of long-term viewing trends."

The TNS data comes from the viewing performance of 100,000 subscribers to DirecTV, the leading satellite distributor. TNS says the data from that subset can be projected to show patterns for all 17 million homes that have the service.

Scripps had a separate deal with TNS to garner second-by-second data for its networks from set-top boxes in 300,000 homes served by cable provider Charter in Los Angeles. But that research only covered live viewing and offered no insight into commercial-skipping via DVRs.

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