• by Paul Gough , December 3, 2002

Nielsen Media Research and a Massachusetts-based software firm are partnering to answer what is quickly becoming a favorite question among people in the TV and advertising industry: How are personal video recorders altering the media landscape?

The deal, announced Monday in advance of the Western Broadband Show that begins today in Anaheim, Calif., will allow Nielsen to use software developed by Ucentric Systems to track PVR use on TVs audited by the ratings service. Ratings could begin as soon as early next year as new PVRs sold by cable and satellite providers come into the market. Nielsen already has a deal with TiVo.

“This is the PVR becoming a serious commercial opportunity for advertisers,” says Ucentric CEO Michael Collette.

The Ucentric software will ship with its application but will only be activated in Nielsen homes. It’s different than the TiVo deal in that it allows homes with multiple PVRs to be measured, says Nielsen spokesman Jack Loftus.

The TiVo-enabled Nielsen homes are just beginning to be tested. Loftus says it isn’t clear yet how the PVR ratings will be presented, whether as a standalone or as part of the overall ratings or some other way. It will probably be different than the way VCR usage is tracked, which is at the time of recording. Loftus says time shifting among VCR users hasn’t risen to the level predicted for PVRs, which are in use by only about 1% of the TV viewing population. But Nielsen wants to get ready now.

“We know that we need to be able to measure it. The time to really begin measuring it is now, not when it reaches 10-15% penetration,” he says.

Collette says the deal with bring advertisers closer to the day of more targeted advertising campaigns using PVRs. It will still take a few years, he says, but it could help TV get a share of the direct marketing spend. The measurement will allow Nielsen to know what channel PVR recorded, how long it was rewound, played and fast-forwarded.

“You can see exactly where they’ve gone in the media with great granularity,” Collette says.

That information, paired with Nielsen’s household data, will become valuable to planners and buyers interested in the possibilities of the medium.

“You need measurement to make the opportunity a reality,” he says.