Nielsen Adds AT&T Set-Top Box Data to TV Ratings

Nielsen has signed a multi-year deal with telecoms giant AT&T to add the latter's anonymized set-top box data to its local and national TV measurement service.

Data from connected homes subscribed to AT&T's DIRECTV and U-Verse services will be integrated with Nielsen's panel data, to enrich Nielsen's services in all 210 local TV markets. In addition, the AT&T data will be added to 3rd party data to complement products such as Nielsen Scarborough (the former JV with Arbitron); the NLTV online tool for analysis of viewing within and across the 210 designated market areas; and the Nielsen N-Score celebrity influence tracking tool.

Megan Clarken (pictured) comments: 'We continue to innovate and leverage all types of data in order to enhance our local and eventually national audience measurement solutions. Combining Nielsen's high-quality panels with anonymized set-top box data from AT&T's DIRECTV and U-Verse homes is at the center of our strategy to enhance how TV viewing is measured'.

Web site: www.nielsen.com .