Arbitron announced that together with online marketing research and analytics companies comScore and Omniture, it is collaborating with NBC Sports to provide cross-platform audience measurement for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
The three will help track NBC’s total Olympic coverage reach across its broadcast, cable and online platforms, providing NBC with unique insights on cross-platform media usage, simultaneous media usage and incremental audience via online video. NBC expects to have access to day-after-next results.
The three companies expect to provide NBC with a 360-degree view of its 2010 Winter Olympic audience by leveraging Arbitron’s Portable People Meter technology, comScore’s panel-based measurement platform and Omniture’s industry-leading online analytics.
By leveraging the mobility of the PPM, Arbitron plans to follow NBC’s 2010 Winter Olympic audience throughout their day and capture their in-home and out-of-home media exposure.
“Industry leaders like NBC need to have deeper insights about consumers who access its programming via multiple platforms, in multiple locations,” said Pierre Bouvard, Arbitron EVP/Cross-Platform Services. “Arbitron is at the forefront of cross-platform media measurement. We are proud to leverage the power of the PPM media measurement service to help NBC gain that insight for their Olympic programming at the consumer-level wherever they access media.”
“Olympics’ audiences are increasingly embracing a cross-platform approach, with a rich mix of broadcast, Web content and online video included in their Olympics experience,” said NBC Universal President, Research and Media Development Alan Wurtzel. “This research initiative will help us enhance that Olympics experience through better insights into how our audience accesses events home or away from home, using the television and the Internet. We are pleased to include this media research innovation led by Arbitron in collaboration with comScore and Omniture in our Billion Dollar Research Lab, to illustrate the dynamics of today’s cross-platform consumer.”
Arbitron will also establish a consumer research panel of adults 18+ who use broadband Internet access at home. The panel will be a single-source for cross-platform media use during the games. Arbitron will combine TV and cable measurement through use of the PPM technology with online exposure to NBC Olympic programming by comScore and Omniture.
RBR-TVBR observation: Nielsen just announced its decision to create within its National People Meter panel a “single source” measurement for both television and online consumption of video content. The plan is to roll out Internet measurement to National People Meter households starting 12/23 and finishing by 8/31/10. This move will give them the ability to measure TV Everywhere-type content and other online video business models. Seems Arbitron beat Nielsen to the punch on this one…Indeed, now two companies are in a rush to measure all video consumption from a single source. We asked for comment from Nielsen on this announcement, but it was declined – for now.
