• by Wayne Friedman , December 6, 2017

Turner is the latest company to sign on to Nielsen’s new subscription video on-demand (SVOD) content ratings service.

The agreement includes all of Turner's networks/brands -- including Adult Swim, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, HLN, TBS, TNT and truTV, as well as Turner Sports' coverage.

Until now, TV viewing of SVOD content has been a huge blind spot for the company, says Howard Shimmel, chief research officer at Turner. Now, Turner and its networks can compare how their content -- as well as that of other television networks -- performs against programs viewed through SVOD services.

Nielsen SVOD ratings are a component of the Nielsen Total Audience measurement system -- which looks at video consumption of subscription-based streaming platforms.

The service uses technology to create an audio signature it can install on TV programs. In addition, it uses Nielsen's national TV panel to provide demographic and household data -- 44,000 homes and over 100,000 people.  

SVOD viewership data is released on a weekly basis, similar to Nielsen’s release of its VOD content ratings.

In October, Nielsen launched the new service with eight major TV networks and production studios signing on at the time: A+E Networks, Disney-ABC Television, NBCUniversal, Lionsgate and Warner Bros.