Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Nielsen, Meet Sorenson: TV Ratings Tools Grow

24/03/2018

The following was published by Arkansas Business on Feb 5, 2018

Nielsen, Meet Sorenson: TV Ratings Tools Grow

By Kyle Massey

Nielsen is a fabled name in television ratings history, but in smaller markets like Arkansas, it has long been the technological equivalent of a handwritten letter in the Snapchat age.

Participating households fill out a diary of their viewing habits during ratings periods and mail in their responses.

With newer, more advanced rating tools, KATV News Director Nick Genty can punch up details of what Arkansans are watching second by second, with a level of detail that amazes TV veterans.

His new tools, comScore and Sorenson, are technology-based analytics that offer Little Rock's ABC affiliate much faster results and far wider statistical samples.

Sorenson, a ratings metric that's actually built into smart TVs, gives Genty and his colleagues at the Sinclair-owned station a granular view of their audience in near real time, and a glimpse of their competitors' viewership.

Nielsen in this market is still handwritten, and after the ratings period closes, I have to wait three weeks to get any results, Genty said. And we get like an 8 percent return rate to make programming decisions on. In smaller counties, or even targeted counties, you might get six or 10 books back. So you're making decisions based on 10 people who hand-wrote out what they watched on TV.

Among KATV's competitors, KARK dropped the Nielsen service altogether several years ago; KTHV is still a subscriber. Other TV stations around the country have abandoned Nielsen in recent years, and it's no longer the ratings bible it became after initiating TV analytics in 1950, when Texaco Star Theater on NBC was the most-watched show on the 10 million TV sets in use at that time.

Nielsen reigned for decades, as No. 1 shows like Gunsmoke (1960), Laugh-In (1970), Dallas (1980), Roseanne (1990) and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (2000) ruled the airwaves.

In 2018, however, Nielsen's small-market methods seem increasingly antiquated compared with comScore and Sorenson Media, which collects anonymized data from millions of smart TVs under a deal with Inscape, a subsidiary of the privately held TV maker Vizio. Sinclair is still part of the Nielsen family, but with comScore we have about 120,000 connected homes in the market that provide data largely gathered from satellite dish services and multichannel video programming distributors, said General Manager Mark Rose. We get reliable data about a week later, and two weeks later, the reliability is really strong. How strong? Strong enough to be sellable to advertisers, Genty said.

Sorenson, which had enlisted more than 80 U.S. stations by October 2017, lets Genty and Rose know exactly when viewers tune in and where they're coming from, as well as when they leave and what programming drew them away. You can go second by second, which is kind of daunting, Genty said.

Rose said he can't compare costs among Nielsen, comScore and Sorenson because Sinclair negotiates for the entire group. But KATV is sold on the system, which it has used extensively for about a year. We can show a screen of our newscast and a chart of the Sorenson numbers side by side with a competitor, Rose said. We overlay the data with comScore and Nielsen's market research, and we can look across the street at the reactions our competitors are getting, what's resonating with their viewers, and how the audience is reacting to content. Research is never 100 percent certain, but we can track the numbers and find continuity.

Sorenson's potential in targeted advertising is also immense, Rose said. They continue to expand in this smart television world, and soon broadcasters and marketers will be able to offer advertising with addressable content. So if you're watching the news in Little Rock and your brother is watching in Conway, he may see a Caldwell Toyota spot in Conway while you'll have a Crain Automotive ad running in the same commercial break. From a news standpoint, things like tornado warnings and Amber alerts could be directed at just certain areas, allowing people elsewhere to keep watching their regular programming.

The numbers also help Genty in coaching reporters. If they're telling me they need five minutes to tell a story, I can show them how viewership falls after a couple of minutes, he said.

By any measure, the KATV news team loves ratings, not least because they lead the pack. At 6 a.m., according to November's numbers, KATV's Daybreak had a 22.7 percent share, compared with 17.57 for KTHV and 13.36 for KARK. At 6 p.m., Channel 7's newscast had a 21.1 share to 11.92 for KARK and 10.11 for KTHV.

Those numbers, by the way, are from comScore. KATV stopped citing Nielsen in its news releases in mid-2017.
LINK: https://www.sorensonmedia.com/news/nielsen-meet-sorenson-tv-ratings-to...
See more stories from sorenson

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

03/06/2026

SES Launches Multi-Orbit Satellite Inflight Connectivity on Viva Airlines

SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...

03/06/2026

CFP, ESPN, and TNT Sports Announce 2026-27 College Football Playoff Broadcast Schedule

The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...

03/06/2026

RED Digital Cinema to Host Panels and Demos at Cine Gear Expo 2026

RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations. P...

03/06/2026

Roku Launches Soccer Zone for FIFA World Cup 2026

Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...

03/06/2026

Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies Renew Multi-Year Partnership

Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...

03/06/2026

Sky News Australia Deploys Grass Valley AMPP for Cloud-Based Newsroom Production

Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...

03/06/2026

Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks

The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...

03/06/2026

Clear-Com Deploys Arcadia Central Station and FreeSpeak II at Itaka Arena in Poland

Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...

03/06/2026

Scott Coker Announces Six Executive Hires for New MMA Promotion

Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...

03/06/2026

Telemundo Announces Digital and Social Media Plans for FIFA World Cup 2026

Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...

03/06/2026

Bundesliga Launches AI Assistant 'Captain' in Official App, Developed With AWS

The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...

03/06/2026

Anthony James Partners Serving as Technology Consultant for UNC Kenan Stadium Modernization

Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...

03/06/2026

Audio-Technica Presents 2025-26 Samurai and Presidents Awards

Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...

03/06/2026

iodyne to Demo Multi-Cam Ingest and Color Workflows With RED and Adobe at Cine Gear Expo 2026

iodyne will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 alongside RED Digital Cinema and Adob...

03/06/2026

Women's College World Series 2026: ESPN Brings Out Cinematic Cameras, POVORA CapCams for All-Texas Championship

The broadcaster will deploy 39 cameras for game coverage, six cameras for studio...

03/06/2026

How Comcast Xfinity Made RealTime 4K, Multiview a Reality for World Cup Fans with Vito Forlenza

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is providing a great opportunity for not only Fox Sports...

03/06/2026

Sonys New PTZ Cameras Deliver 4K 60p; New STARVIS Sensor Meets Low-Light Demands

Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p compatible PTZ Auto Framing camera that uses Sony's proprietary AI to automatically recognize and tra...

03/06/2026

NBA Finals 2026: ESPN's 1080p HDR Experience Drives San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks Title Series

Game Creek Video's Flagship A, B, C, and D unit will wind up its first year ...

03/06/2026

New Sponsor Spotlight: Caretta Researchs Evangelos Vrysellas Says Booming Sports-Rights Market May Be Hitting the Brakes

According to Caretta Research, the sports-rights market may be hitting the brake...

03/06/2026

Film Festival Watch: Catch These 11 Must-See Sundance Institute-Supported Films at Tribeca 2026

Retrieval still courtesy of Tribeca. By Jessica Herndon This year, the Tribeca...

03/06/2026

Beat Panner from Sound Particles

Step sequencer-style panning tool revealed Alongside their flagship self-titled sound-design platform, Sound Particles offer an array of creative effects an...

03/06/2026

Eventide to launch the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2

Now features full H90 algorithm library Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...

03/06/2026

Aim Audio's Essence price drop

Significant discount available until 1 October 2026 Aim Audio have just announced a promotion that sees a significant discount applied to their Essence micr...

03/06/2026

Clarification: SBS's position on definitions of antisemitism

Clarification: SBS's position on definitions of antisemitism 3 June, 2026 Media releases Statement by Mandi Wicks, SBS Director of News and Current Aff...

03/06/2026

Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Airport

Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Ai...

03/06/2026

Clear-Com Powers Itaka Arena with Arcadia Central Station and FreeSpeak II beltpacks

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

03/06/2026

Comcast Xfinity to Deliver 4K Coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Sony to Show New PTZ Cameras at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Oklahoma City Thunder Tops Nielsen Ranking of Most Viewed NBA Teams

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

SmallHD Introduces OLED 16 4K Production Monitor

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

ANDREW WILSON DELIVERS AUTHENTIC SOUND FOR FILM USING NU...

For more than three decades, Re-recording Mixer Andrew Wilson, AMPS, CAS, has helped bring the natural world to the screen with exceptional audio enjoyed by mil...

03/06/2026

From Stadiums to Campuses to Corporate Studios- Telestrea...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will showcase its latest innovations for modern AV production environments at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N...

03/06/2026

DPA ADVANCES INTEGRATED AUDIO SOLUTIONS FOR PRO AV ENVIR...

DPA Microphones will present a comprehensive portfolio of integrated audio solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of today's professional AV environm...

03/06/2026

Lightware Expands Gemini GVN With Full-Featured USB-C

Lightware announces the GVN-HC-TX220AP, a new transmitter in the Gemini GVN 1G AV-over-IP family that introduces full-featured USB-C for professional 1Gb AV-ove...

03/06/2026

Minno Teams with Evergent to Enhance Faith-Based Streamin...

Evergent, the customer management and monetization leader for streaming and digital subscription businesses, and Minno, the global leader in faith-based content...

03/06/2026

Alfalite brings its LED technology to RTVE iconic Teatro...

Alfalite, Europe's only LED display manufacturer, has completed a new broadcast installation with the deployment of two UHD Finepix 1.5 MATIX AlfaCOB LED di...

03/06/2026

Broadcast Solutions delivers new Ultra HD outside broadca...

Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is completing a contract to build eight...

03/06/2026

NAB Launches Merkhet Solutions to Advance Deployment of BPS

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

FCC Kicks Off First Spectrum Auction in Four Years

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Utopai Studios Launches Pai 2.0, Cinematic Storytelling AI System

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Roku Introduces NHL Zone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Study: Record Revenue Expected for FIFA World Cup 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Frequency Launches In-Scene Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Creamsource Introduces Vortex2 and Vortex2 Soft

Creamsource, known for its tried-and-true Vortex Series of cinematic lighting, has announced the Vortex2 (V2) and Vortex2 Soft (V2S), two compact additions to t...

03/06/2026

Do not read this media release! Andy Lee's smash-hit show returns to ABC this July

Do not read this media release! Andy Lee's smash-hit show returns to ABC thi...

03/06/2026

Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette

Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette Jessie Electa Petrov June 2, 2026 0 Comments The 2026 release helps artists tackle complex ...

03/06/2026

La Tl's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design

La T l 's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 2, 2026 0 Comments Blackmagic Videohub 120 120 12G provi...