4A s National TV/Radio Committee: Q & A on Nielsen s Extended Screen and On Demand C3 Measurements

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1 May 23, 2012 # 7409 To media agency executives, media directors and media research directors. 4A s National TV/Radio Committee: Q & A on Nielsen s Extended Screen and On Demand C3 Measurements Background In 2006, the Digital Video Innovation (DVI) Committee of the 4A s issued a set of guidelines designed to help advertisers and their agencies judge the effectiveness of ad messaging in ondemand video environments. Every two years, the committee (now within the 4A s National TV/Radio Committee) meets with vendors to discuss the progress of each platform and reports back on the general compliance with the guidelines. Since the inception of the DVI committee, we have promoted the adoption of measurement capabilities to help advertisers and their agencies judge the effectiveness of ad messaging in ondemand media environments. Current Measurement Status In 2011, media agencies learned about a new service from Nielsen that could break though the industry s biggest hurdle with on-demand a widely accepted measurement process that agencies could access and potentially use to report on-demand usage on various devices. Because there are many questions in the marketplace on this new service, the 4A s has prepared this Q&A document on the current product from Nielsen as we know it; we look forward to hearing back from agencies as to other questions they might have about this service. Q&A on Nielsen s On Demand C3 and Nielsen s Extended Screen Product Set What is Nielsen s On Demand C3 (ODC3) metric? ODC3, On Demand C3 refers to the concept of using active C3 commercials from a recent airing of a program and inserting them into all episodes of the same program. The recent airing would receive C3 credit for any viewing to the commercials from any of the episodes either on TV, VOD or online. This is currently only a concept and not yet implemented in the marketplace. What is Nielsen s Extended Screen (ES) metric? ES, Extended Screen refers to the concept of providing linear telecast credit to C3-qualified programs served online. Nielsen uses its Cross-Platform Panel, a subset of National People Meter homes that are metered for both TV and computer, to credit viewing of TV programs American Association of Advertising Agencies, 1065 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10028

2 Page 2 online. The programs served online must retain the same linear Nielsen encoding and the full national commercial load. Only content providers participating in Extended Screen receive credit from online viewing. How does a program or commercial qualify to be counted in each metric? In order for the programming and commercials to be part of the new metrics, content must have the original national commercial load AND linear Nielsen watermarks and air within the three-day window. Both programming and advertising MUST preserve the original Nielsen encoding. ODC3: In order for a telecast to receive ODC3 credit, the commercials from a recently aired telecast of the program must preserve the original Nielsen encoding and be inserted into alternate episodes of the same program within 3 days, and in the same order as they originally aired. ES: In order for a telecast to receive Extended Screen credit, a participating content provider must serve content online with the original linear Nielsen encoding and linear national commercial load. What about the local breaks in programs? All local breaks are removed from the program. In this time, the programmer can replace the time with a promo or use other un-encoded content that will not be counted in the C3 metric. Who can use these metrics? ODC3: Once available in the marketplace, any broadcast network, cable network or syndicator will have the option of participating in ODC3, but they must use the watermarking to enable counting. ES: Any broadcast network, cable network or syndicator may participate in Extended Screen, but they must use the watermarking to enable counting. How frequently is ODC3 reporting available? Weekly Extended Screen summaries are reported via the National Report Library, a Nielsen service.

3 Page 3 ODC3: Once available in the marketplace, ODC3 will be available as part of the same C3 delivery schedule that exists today. At that time, Nielsen will provide a break out of Recently Telecast VOD viewing separate from DVR playback. Any ODC3 viewing from online VOD will be included in the existing Extended Screen break out for participating clients. ES: Extended Screen data is delivered on the same schedule as C3 15 days after the end of the week. A weekly Extended Screen Summary Report is available in the National Report Library on Answers outlining the telecasts that received Extended Screen credit for a given week. Where does Nielsen pull its Cross-Platform Panel from? The Nielsen Cross-Platform Panel consists of those National People Meter households that agree to computer measurement and have software installed on their home computers. Today computer measurement is optional. For those households that agree, Nielsen is able to meter all eligible desktops and laptops. Computers not owned by the household (e.g., work computers) are not metered at this time. There are over 10,000 cross-platform homes; in February 2012, 927 were Macs. How is Video on Demand pulled? If a content provider elects to make a linear telecast available on VOD with the same linear encoding and national commercial load (Recently Telecast VOD), viewing to that VOD content within seven days will be credited back to the appropriate telecast. At this time, this VOD contribution is not broken out from DVR playback. Nielsen is targeting First Quarter 2013 for VOD break out capability, which would require the content provider to encode a separate timesynched VOD feed. What happens to views that are C4+? ODC3: For content providers that use the Recently Telecast VOD model, Nielsen will credit VOD viewing back to the appropriate telecast within 7 days of air if the linear encoding remains intact and all the national commercials are served. If a content provider elects to remove the C3 linear version of an episode after three days, viewing will no longer credit back to the telecast. However, clients have the option of then using the Library VOD model, which requires a separate encoding from the linear telecast. With this separate encoding, Nielsen can measure and report the VOD content separately for as long as the content is available to consumers. With the Library VOD model, there is no requirement for same commercial loads and full demographic and market break reporting capabilities are available. ES: Nielsen will credit Extended Screen viewing back to the appropriate telecast within seven days of air. If a content provider elects to remove the C3 linear version of an episode after three days, viewing will no longer credit back to the telecast.

4 Page 4 Can I purchase ODC3 inventory? Any inventory will be part of a linear TV buy. ODC3: Once available in the marketplace, ODC3 contribution for participating content providers will be credited to the linear telecast. However, Nielsen will at that time provide the ability to break out VOD contribution from DVR playback. ES: Extended Screen viewing is credited directly to the linear telecast for participating content providers. Nielsen does provide a break out of the Extended Screen contribution What will platforms ODC3 include in the future? Consideration is being made for ipad viewing for content provided by MSOs (cable operators) and Content providers. Viewership could then also credit the TV ratings with proper encoding by a provider. ODC3: Once available to the marketplace, ODC3 credit will be available from TV, VOD and online VOD. Nielsen is also currently working on a metering solution for ipads. Once this solution is in place, ODC3 credit will also be available for participating content providers from VOD content served on an ipad. ES: Nielsen is currently working on a metering solution for ipads. Once this solution is in place, content served on an ipad app with the same linear encoding and national commercials will also be included in Extended Screen for participating clients. And the most important question, who is doing this today? ODC3: ODC3 is not yet available in the marketplace. Nielsen is targeting First Quarter 2013 for ODC3 implementation. ES: Today there are 17 cable networks participating in Extended Screen. Other content providers are currently testing. As of May 11, we show the following: Broadcast Networks: ABC: Starts 3Q 12 Fox [Excludes American Idol and X-Factor ] NBC

5 Page 5 Cable Networks Adult Swim A&E AMC Bravo Cartoon E! Food HGTV History Lifetime Oxygen SyFy TBS TNT TruTV USA WE The 4A s thanks Jen Soch of MEC and Jason Maltby of Mindshare, co-chairs of the 4A s National TV/Radio Committee, for drafting this report. Donna G. Campbell Senior Vice President Media Services Division