ABC joins Nielsen’s out-of-home viewing measurement service

Since Nielsen announced that it will measure out-of-home viewing, networks like ESPN, Fox Sports and Turner have come on board. Now ABC is the latest to sign up to have its viewership measured outside of the home.

Nielsen defines out-of-home viewership as watching TV at bars, restaurants, gyms or other establishments that have televisions, but not at home.

And Nielsen notes that with ABC on board, the network should be see some increased numbers in its overall viewership.

“We are excited to have ABC join the growing list of television clients who have decided to incorporate Nielsen’s national out-of-home reporting into their business in order to benefit from the incremental audience lift that they will receive,” said Peter Bradbury, managing director of Nielsen National TV Client Solutions, in a statement. “As viewing continues to fragment across screens and devices, Nielsen is working diligently to ensure we can offer the most comprehensive view of media consumption possible. Nielsen’s National Out-of-Home Reporting Service is a key component of our measurement evolution and our plans to provide clients with flexible and powerful products that measure audiences regardless of where content is viewed.”

Networks like ESPN, Fox Sports and Turner’s TNT have already signed on in hopes that their numbers will go up. ESPN has already seen a spike in its ratings and Nielsen notes that sports and news are already the biggest beneficiaries from out-of-home viewership.

Of course, ABC is happy to be joining the service:

“We’re pleased to see that Nielsen has built the capability to measure viewing of ABC’s content away from home, whether consumers are enjoying our rich programming alone or with family and friends,” said Cindy Davis, executive vice president of consumer experience for the Disney-ABC Television Group, in a statement. “We’re looking forward to engaging our clients with a true reflection of viewership across all screens.”

You might think it’s strange for one of the traditional broadcast to come on board with this, but with ABC depending on a heavy diet of news plus entertainment programming you might be right. However, networks know that with fewer people watching TV overall, it needs all the numbers it can get.

[Fierce Cable]