• by Wayne Friedman , October 10, 2006

Starting in 2007, the greatest component of out-of-home viewing--college students--will now be counted by Nielsen.

Come Jan. 29, Nielsen will record college viewing from new people meters hooked up in hundreds of dorm rooms, fraternities, sororities and off-campus housing in the United States. "Generally, college students watch 25 to 30 hours of viewing a week," says Jack Wakshlag, chief research officer of Turner Broadcasting. "Up until now, that viewing had been counted as zero."

Which shows will benefit? Younger-skewing networks and shows, late-night, and sports programming.

In a pilot test conducted by Nielsen last October, many 18-34-skewing networks and programs gained traction. "Adult Swim" showed big 20 percent gains in viewing, MTV was up 10 percent, and ESPN had 6 percent more 18-34 viewers. Two now-defunct networks also saw improvements: WB was up 6 percent, and UPN was 4 percent higher. The traditional networks--which are generally older-skewing--scored smaller gains than cable networks: ABC and Fox each grew 3 percent; NBC was 2 percent better; and CBS inched up 1 percent.

While Nielsen has also done tests for other out-of-home viewing--bars, hotels, airports--college viewing is the first to be included in its national people meter sample. "It's the first step to complete video measurement," adds Wakshlag.

Another key piece of programming missing from Nielsen's people meter ratings has been NCAA sporting events. The NCAA organization has been encouraging Nielsen to include college students because of the attention that some major TV games command on campus. One caveat: Nielsen won't be including ratings of college viewing common areas--cafeterias and lounges.

Wakshlag says that college viewing represents the biggest piece of out-of-home viewing--even greater than hotels, bars, and airports. That's because college students spend a lot of time in their rooms watching TV--especially during prime-time and late night.

Technically, these college viewers were being accounted for--as part of their parents' Nielsen homes. But until now, their actual viewing habits were only counted when they were in their parents' homes--either during school holidays, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, or during the summer.

Says Wakshlag: "All this is positive. It is incremental viewing. It is a win-win for networks and advertisers."

Wakshlag originally brought the problem of missing college viewers to Nielsen's attention in 1998, when he was working on WB programming. Ironically, this is the first year that the WB is not in business.