• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 11, 2011

Rentrak, which offers ratings culled from set-top-box data, said it will offer a new batch of demographic data as an add-on to the household-level metrics it has been providing. That includes data for national networks and local stations.

The data will come from market research collector Epsilon and cover more than 200 demographic breakdowns.

One of the issues with STB data is that it falls short in offering insight into exactly who within a home is viewing a program. But if Epsilon overlays, so to speak, are considered sturdy by the ad community in that respect, such concerns could be alleviated.

Rentrak's data is collected from STBs owned by Dish Network, AT&T and others. On a national level, its TV Essentials product has been used by some smaller networks that may not subscribe to Nielsen. On a local level, a slew of stations have been using it, figuring that STB data from many homes might be an improvement over the limited number in a Nielsen sample.

The Epsilon data will roll out with the national product first.

Rentrak collects the second-by-second data anonymously.

Separately, Rentrak Corp. announced the appointment of Brad Nimmons as a director of client services. Nimmons will be responsible for day-to-day management of key client relationships in the Eastern United States. Before this, Nimmons was director of research for Rentrak client, Media General.