Nielsen, Ucentric to Build Audience Measurement Software to Track PVR Use

Nielsen Media Research and Ucentric Systems will create TV audience measurement software to track usage of PVRs on multiple TV sets, the two companies announced recently. Nielsen software will be integrated into the Ucentric Multi-TV PVR, which will power a number of digital set-top boxes, to collect tuning, recording and playback information from every TV set in homes connected to the Ucentric system.

Ucentric PVR and home networking software offers consumers personal recording capabilities and programming lineup on multiple TV's through the home. Digital set-tops powered by Ucentric's Multi-TV PVR solution lets viewers chose and control individual video recordings from a single in-home recording library shared between the sets.

The purpose of the new software tracking system, according to Scott Brown, Nielsen senior vice president for strategic relationships, is to credit PVR and other time shifting usage by integrating the data into syndicated reports, or "the currency for more than $60 billion in advertising spending" in the U.S.

The audience measurement software will only be used to gather data from Nielsen sample households and it otherwise inactive.