Nielsen Strikes Capitol Deal For Continued Ratings

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A company taking the lead on the voluntary rollout of Next Gen broadcast TV signals has agreed to a multi-year renewal agreement for local television measurement by Nielsen.


The pact ensures that Capitol Broadcasting Company enjoys continued access to Nielsen’s local currency television ratings data across all 210 designated market areas (DMAs), as well as access to in-market, consumer behavior insights via Nielsen Scarborough.

“At Capitol, we believe in having access to the most accurate and complete measurement data that provides us with a total market view of local TV audiences,” said Joel Davis, VP/GM for Raleigh-based Capitol’s two stations, WRAL-5 and WRAZ-50. “Capitol Broadcasting Company’s legacy of hard work, creativity, and a commitment to our audiences, our clients, and our employees have made us a successful broadcasting company and industry leader in the communications field. With Nielsen as our partner, we are confident CBC will continue to provide the highest level of service and expertise to our viewers, listeners and clients in order to increase our profitability and market share.”

The new contract comes as Nielsen retired diary measurement and began delivering 12 months of electronic measurement in its former markets with hand-scribed “what did I watch?” ratings, effective with July 2018 measurement. The first month of currency data was delivered the week of September 4. The new methodology, RPD+, uses Return Path Data from various providers across 137 markets, 15,000 newly installed local household meters, and 750 in-market National People Meter (NPM) households. “These enhancements will provide more stable ratings, more frequent measurement, and greatly reduced reporting of zero ratings,” Nielsen notes.

The TV-only deal was signed by a media company that also owns four radio stations and a total of nine radio brands in the Triangle region of North Carolina, thanks to HD multicasts and FM translators.