29 September 2017
TV Panel to Increase by 50% with Nielsen Contract Extension
High definition TV measurement is on its way with a 50% increase to the PeopleMeter panel coming next year, following
the extension of Nielsen’s contract to supply ratings to the New Zealand market to 2022.
The New Zealand TV panel will be expanded from 600 to 900 households – from around 1500 to 2250 individuals. The change
will be progressively implemented from February to September 2018, giving the market an even sharper picture of New
Zealand’s changing viewing behaviour.
Nielsen’s NZ television measurement contract has been extended by four years to June 2022. The decision was reached by
the NZ Television Broadcasters Group in conjunction with the Commercial Communications Council after considering
responses from global audience measurement companies.
The expansion of the panel means that as the range of video viewing options continues to increase, it will pave the way
for integrated video viewing audience measurement across broadcast and online.
Nielsen’s development of both television and online video audience measurement through panels and online tracking tools
is state of the art audience measurement says Caroline Atford, Executive Director Media, Nielsen NZ.
“The panel expansion is key to delivering more robust, granular measurement to the NZ market and sets the foundations
for a future-proof total video audience measurement solution, across all screens and devices,” she says.
“Nielsen is committed - both globally and locally in NZ - to measuring the total audience. The entire team at Nielsen
have worked hard to deliver an impeccable standard of service and we’re thrilled to be continuing this partnership with
the New Zealand TV industry.”
Louise Bond, Chair of the Commercial Communications Council says: “This panel expansion is great news for advertisers
and agencies. Accurate media measurement is at the core of our industry and this panel expansion reflects the need to
continuously improve our measurement processes for both individual media channels and is a critical step to accurate
audience measurement across channels. We’ll continue to work closely with Nielsen and the Television Broadcasters Group
to develop our total video measurement capability.”
ends