Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings to expand in Australia enabling networks, agencies and advertisers to measure and act on TV-related convos on Twitter

Today Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, announced it will bring Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings to Australia.

Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings, together with Nielsen’s full suite of Twitter TV Solutions, will enable the TV industry–including TV networks, agencies, and advertisers–to measure, understand and act on TV-related conversation on Twitter. Slated for commercial availability in Australia in the second half of 2014, Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings will measure the total activity (Tweets, Unique Authors) and reach (Impressions, Unique Audience) of TV-related conversation on Twitter.

Says Monique Perry, head of Nielsen’s Media Industry Group in Australia: “We are thrilled to make the announcement that Australia will be the third country globally for Nielsen to launch Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings. We have for some time been working with our clients in this market to understand their needs around TV-related social media engagement and activity – being able to deliver this world-leading solution is a great win for the Australia market.”

Consumers in Australia have taken to Twitter to talk about live TV, further establishing the global consumer phenomenon of social TV. Forty four percent of the online population in Australia participates in social TV, according to Nielsen’s Australian Connected Consumers Report 2014, using social media to react to and share their passions about their favorite TV programs and stars with friends, family, and other fans in real time.

Says Steve Weaver, research director, Nine Network Australia: “Having access to an accurate social media metric will empower networks, agencies, and advertisers to make data-driven decisions around content, programming and advertising, based on the true influence of the online conversation. We will no doubt see more products in this space, but Nielsen and Twitter are definitely ahead of the curve.”

In bringing Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings to this new market, Nielsen will also continue to support the needs of both global and local agencies and advertisers looking to make data-driven media planning and buying decisions that incorporate Twitter TV activity and reach.

Says James Hier, chief strategy officer at MEC: “Social TV has transformed TV’s image from a lean back, relaxed media platform, to a real-time engagement environment. What the industry has lacked is a recognised currency and tool to take advantage of this phenomenon at scale. Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings will act as a hotspot for audience energy, not just numbers, allowing marketers and agencies to approach how they evaluate and use programs in a more progressive way.”

Nielsen’s Twitter TV solutions identify, capture and analyse conversation on Twitter in real time for over 250 of the most popular US television networks today. As they come to the Australian market, Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings will enable TV networks to measure the full Twitter engagement surrounding their programs, to quantify the effectiveness of Twitter TV-related audience engagement strategies, and to better understand the relationship between Twitter and tune-in.

Says Steve Hasker, president, global product leadership, Nielsen: “Nielsen’s Twitter TV Solutions have quickly been adopted by over 90 networks, agencies, and advertisers in the US, enabling the industry to better understand and act on the Twitter activity taking place around TV programming. As Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings come to market in Australia, this powerful measurement will further quantify the value of social TV investments.”

Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings, which will be produced via the exclusive, multi-year agreement that Nielsen and Twitter announced in December 2012, will be a separate set of measures that complement OzTAM and Regional TAM ratings, which remain the television audience measurement currencies in their respective markets.

More information about Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings can be found at www.socialguide.com.