• by Wayne Friedman , September 3, 2008

The first out-of-home TV ratings have been released by a previously announced venture between The Nielsen Company and Integrated Media Measurement Inc., with NBC's Olympics and Fox's summer shows dominating all comers.

The first three days of NBC's Olympic broadcast--August 8, 9 and 10th--the network averaged 1.05 million, 950,000 and 812,000 out-of-home viewers ages 13-54, respectively. This included television viewing in out-of-home locations, such as offices, fitness clubs, hotels and bars.

Looking at just prime-time non-sports programming for June 30 through July 27, a repeat of "House" on June 30 was the best, earning 570,000. Fox's reality show "Moment of Truth" pulled 553,000 viewers, while ABC's "The Bachelorette" tied with Fox's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" with 535,000.

Other Fox shows "Cops," "Major League Baseball's All Star Game," "America's Most Wanted" and "So You Think You Can Dance?" also made the top 10 list.

Cable shows were comparable to broadcast network shows in July when it came to viewership out of home. ESPN's "Home Run Derby"--part of the All-Star Weekend event--grabbed 570,000 viewers as the best cable program. TNT's "Sprint Cup Racing/Daytona" took in 501,000 viewers, and Disney Channel's "The Incredibles" posted 460,000. USA Network shows "In Plain Sight" and "Psych" also made the top 10 list.

The Nielsen/IMMI syndicated service is launching with two charter clients--sports cable network ESPN and media buying agency Zenith Media.

Said Glenn Enoch, vice president of integrated media research for ESPN, in a release: "Out-of-home delivery is a critical part of ESPN delivery, encompassing usage on campuses, in hotels, at work as well as bars and restaurants."

IMMI provides the technology in the form of a mobile phone to some 1,700 users where signals are transmitted back to Nielsen/IMMI. Later this year, Nielsen/IMMI will roll out a local service in six markets--New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Denver-- with some 500 users carrying a mobile device in each market.