• by Gaetano Pollice , November 29, 2007

Whip out the body paint and break out the pork rinds, sports fans, because ESPN and Nielsen are about to crash on your couch, hog the TV, borrow your computer and eat up all your cell phone minutes. 

In October, ESPN, Inc. and The Nielsen Company partnered to evaluate how ESPN’s viewers use media beyond just the cable sports channel itself. Together, the dynamic duo will create a pioneering model for cross-media measurement, including Internet use and mobile devices, with the aim of giving television ad buyers and sellers a better understanding of how those sports superfans use digital media.

ESPN will then be able to evaluate if TV promos will drive their viewers to the Internet (and vice-versa); analyze the number of hours viewers spend watching TV and using the Internet each week (down to a specific time of day and demographic); and monitor different combinations of media use, like watching TV and streaming online media at the same time. That info will then be fused with data about mobile devices to monitor how participants use ESPN’s mobile Web and video.

Ultimately, the project will measure overlap between ESPN’s television, web, and mobile media offerings.