• by Wayne Friedman , July 26, 2011

Looking for greater access to valuable set-top box data for its local TV research products, Nielsen has made a multi-year deal with Kantar Media for its consumer viewing data from DirecTV set top boxes.

Nielsen will use Kantar Media's DIRECTView service in local TV audience measurement. Nielsen has developed a proprietary, hybrid methodology for the U.S. market that combines Nielsen's National People Meter panel data with set-top-box and other sources of data.

Nielsen's local TV efforts would hopefully move it away from many local TV markets that still rely on diary-based measurement.

In 2008 Kantar Media (then TNS Media Research) struck a deal with satellite programmer DirectTV to create an opt-in audience measurement panel of 100,000 DirecTV subscribers. Currently, DirectTV has 19.4 million subscribers.

"DIRECTView is one of many sources of data Nielsen is incorporating in our efforts to provide higher quality local TV audience measurement," said Steve Hasker, president, Nielsen Media Products and Advertiser Solutions, in a release.

He added: "Our innovative approach to enhance local TV measurement addresses the technological limitations of using set-top-box data alone, and we expect it will provide valuable benefits to local TV markets."

George Shababb, president of Kantar Media Audiences North America, said: "The sample size and granularity made possible through return path data advances what audience measurement has traditionally been able to deliver and will help offer advertisers in local markets an improved service."