Nielsen And The Future Of Measuring Television And Video Viewers

Nielsen And The Future Of Measuring Television And Video Viewers

Sofia Carson, viewed on a laptop, speaks during the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards on August 30, 2020. ... [+] Nielsen is tracking the audiences as viewers migrate to other devices. (Photo Illustration by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)



Photo Illustration by Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Since television became a commodity in the 1950s, a program's success was largely dependent upon Nielsen ratings. Initially, most households had one television set, the family watched only a handful of stations available and Nielsen used paper diaries to measure ratings. As television advanced with the emergence of cable networks, VCR's and later DVR's, Nielsen adjusted its methodology to include meters to measure program ratings and later commercial minutes. As persons watching video content evolved to include streaming, mobile, on-demand, etc.,