McLEAN, VA.: Gannett signed a multi-year agreement for Nielsen’s local ratings service, the TV metric firm said today. The announcement comes a day after Gannett signed a contract for local audience data from Nielsen’s quasi competitor, Rentrak.
Nielsen will provide overnights, custom applications and software for Gannett’s 23 TV station in 19 local markets. Under the agreement, Nielsen will also track usage of Gannett television station web sites.
Rentrak of Portland, Ore., makes technology that also provides local ratings and share, as does Nielsen, though it drills down further for retention details, duplication, cable performance and other audience viewing data as it relates specifically to advertisers.
The information is gleaned from cable and Dish Network’s satellite set-top boxes, whereas Nielsen uses proprietary measurement devices. The company is part of a coalition that agreed to measure usage of mobile DTV during the trial of that service going on this summer in Washington, D.C.
Rentrak launched its local broadcast measurement service last December and now has stations owned by Media General LIN TV and Sinclair.
See...
February 10, 2010: “WCMH-TV Signs Up Rentrak”
WCMH-TV is the third station to sign up for detailed local audience measurement in the Columbus, Ohio, market.
