• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 20, 2024

Nearly a year after media research rival Comscore sided with Nielsen in a call to support the Media Rating Council's (MRC) accreditation process, Nielsen is congratulating Comscore for making it across that finish line first in terms of a Big Data measurement solution.

"Congratulations to Comscore, Inc. on receiving MRC accreditation for their total household rating and average audience estimates in national and local TV time-based grid reports," Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao said in a post on his LinkedIn profile shortly after Comscore announced the news.

"The more accredited data there is in the marketplace the better it is for everyone -- buyers, sellers, viewers and all of us devoted to the science of audience measurement," Rao continued, adding: "Nielsen’s been honored to have shared the benefits of accredited services with our clients for many decades, and we’re proud of the rigor and investment we've committed to shepherding ten of our audience measurement products through the MRC process. We welcome Comscore to the club."

Nielsen, of course, has had its ups and downs when it comes to MRC accreditation, but has remained a steadfast supporter -- and when some marketplace confusion arose a year ago due to OpenAP's and the Video Advertising Bureau's creation of a joint industry committee to certify ad currencies and audience estimates, Nielsen called on the industry to double down and support the MRC.

Comscore followed suit, issuing a statement that read: “Comscore joins with Nielsen in support of MRC accreditation and their call for greater trust and transparency in the selling process and for currency that is informed by big data. Comscore is aligned with the belief that currency used by the industry should be audited and ultimately accredited as being in compliance with MRC standards and that is why Comscore has committed to that process and is well along in working with the MRC for accreditation, a decision on which we hope to receive in the near future."

"This is a classy post," long-time media researcher and consultant Marshall Cohen said in a reply to Rao's post.

"Pro move," commented Coleytown Advisors Founder and President Bruce Haymes.