• by Wayne Friedman , January 8, 2008

Sony Pictures Television has struck a unique deal with The Nielsen Company that will develop audience metrics showing the total effect its media platforms have on the marketplace.

Because Sony's audience is primarily young, tech-savvy consumers, it has been looking for a measurement that would determine the total impact of its television and Internet platforms.

NielsenConnect--Nielsen's service that looks to tie in measurement data from a variety of media properties--examined the unduplicated reach and audience composition of Sony Picture Television's syndicated TV shows, Sony BMG's MusicBox Web site and its High Definition (HD) network, MOJO HD.

Under a deal with Nielsen, initial findings have shown that Sony's properties reach two-thirds of all young, high-tech consumers. Nielsen and Sony called this groundbreaking research, and referred to these users as "technologists."

It found that 64.6% of 18- to-34-year-olds--those who define themselves as being among the first to adopt new technologies regardless of price--used Sony properties, compared to 57.5% of adults ages 18-34 overall.

The research also noted that Sony's TV offerings reach 7 million 18- to-34-year-olds and 13 million 18- to-49-year-olds. Overall, it says there are 37 million technologists, amounting to 12% of the U.S. population.

Nielsen says these findings are intended to be the first of a series of custom-research studies across multiple categories of consumers.