Nielsen is leaning more on wearables to hear what people are watching | The Verge
Overview
Tech Expand Amazon Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Samsung Business See all tech
Reviews Expand Smart Home Reviews Phone Reviews Tablet Reviews Headphone Reviews See all reviews
Details
Science Expand Space Energy Environment Health See all science
Entertainment Expand TV Shows Movies Audio See all entertainment
Policy Expand Antitrust Politics Law Security See all policy
Gadgets Expand Laptops Phones TVs Headphones Speakers Wearables See all gadgets
Verge Shopping Expand Buying Guides Deals Gift Guides See all shopping
Streaming Expand Disney HBONetflix You Tube Creators See all streaming
Transportation Expand Electric Cars Autonomous Cars Ride-sharing Scooters See all transportation
Entertainment Close Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Entertainment
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Gadgets Close Gadgets Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Gadgets
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
News Close News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All News
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Nielsen is leaning more on wearables to hear what people are watching
The streaming era has made it harder to capture reliable viewership data.
The streaming era has made it harder to capture reliable viewership data.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
In order to beef up its ability to accurately measure viewership data in the streaming era, Nielsen is moving forward with a plan to use more information gathered from its partners’ wearable devices.
Building on its decision from earlier this year to adopt the Advertising Research Foundation’s (ARF) Device and Account Sharing (DASH) data into its methodology, Nielsen will use new DASH estimates that are based on more recent survey data. The company will also use data from two additional surveys in order to better estimate how many Spanish-speaking households are in its pool of panel participants. Nielsen is also updating the machine learning tool it uses to process information from data providers to assess the demographic makeup of individual households, which means. The firm noted that this last update should help “ensure the data is more representative and does not artificially skew toward older residents.”
Each of these new features makes it sound like Nielsen is taking even more stops to maintain its position as the industry standard for ratings capture at the time when people’s viewing habits have become much more fractured. The company also has to contend with the way the rise of streaming makes it difficult to accurately assess what people are watching. Being asked to keep Nielsen’s proprietary devices in their homes is nothing new for the company’s panel participants, but the push to wear listening wearables could strike some as a bit intrusive. But if this all really does lead to Nielsen capturing more reliable information, other firms might follow its example.
Charles Pulliam-Moore Close Charles Pulliam-Moore Film & TV Reporter Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Charles Pulliam-Moore
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Entertainment Close Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Entertainment
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Film Close Film Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Film
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Gadgets Close Gadgets Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Gadgets
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
News Close News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All News
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Streaming Close Streaming Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Streaming
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
TV Shows Close TV Shows Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All TV Shows
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Wearable Close Wearable Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Wearable
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Comcast is turning millions of its routers into motion detectors
Amazon seemingly leaked Jason Statham’s entire Mutiny movie
The Pixel 11 Pro is a great phone, no thanks to its flashiest new features
Elon Musk broke the FAA — Palantir is picking up the pieces
The Pixel 11 isn’t the best Pixel of 2026, but it’s the smartest buy
Key Takeaways
- Tech Expand Amazon Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Samsung Business See all tech
- Reviews Expand Smart Home Reviews Phone Reviews Tablet Reviews Headphone Reviews See all reviews
- Science Expand Space Energy Environment Health See all science
- Entertainment Expand TV Shows Movies Audio See all entertainment
- Policy Expand Antitrust Politics Law Security See all policy
