Nielsen now includes YouTube TV & Hulu Live in C3/C7 TV ratings

As it tries to play catch up with the digital’s encroachment on the traditional TV landscape, ratings giant Nielsen is incorporating YouTube TV and Hulu’s live programming service into its TV ratings.

The novelty here is that YouTube TV and Hulu’s live programming will be included in Nielsen’s C3 and C7 ratings metrics, which capture viewership numbers in the three and seven days after a program airs. Networks and advertisers rely on the ratings data when negotiating ad rates. Nielsen says it will will combine certain types of digital viewership for linear TV shows into a combined total audience rating.

“Combining digital viewing of eligible Live, DVR and On-Demand TV on Hulu’s live service and YouTube TV with traditional linear audience metrics, Nielsen will capture audiences watching linear TV through these services on desktop, tablets and smartphones. This capability will provide broader audience coverage and inclusion and allow Nielsen clients to more effectively monetize content across platforms,” the company said in the announcement.

The Media Ratings Council accredited Nielsen’s Digital in TV Ratings in February, enabling digital viewership to be included in TV ratings. The service captures viewers across all devices, but only if the programming seen online has the same content and ads as the airing on broadcast or cable. That means that with this update, if the ads shown at the time of broadcast aren’t carried over exactly on Hulu and YouTube broadcasts, the data won’t be included in the C3 and C7 ratings. That type of ad alignment isn’t common at this point, so the true impact on C3 and C7 metrics could be minimal early on.

As viewing habits shift to digital, incorporating digital platforms into the traditional TV measurement systems is becoming more critical for both buyers and sellers. This is one more step toward that end.