Nielsen & Roku Align in OTT Audience-Measurement Push

NEW YORK: Nielsen and Roku have entered into a strategic agreement to advance the industry's ability to measure and monetize viewing on over-the-top (OTT) devices.

As a first step, Nielsen and Roku will enable OTT measurement through Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings. Publishers that choose to participate will have the ability to measure their audience according to Nielsen demographics, along with gaining access to the full suite of Digital Ad Ratings to measure and report campaign audience delivery through the Roku platform.

This new measurement is an industry first for OTT devices and will enable marketers to buy video advertising on the Roku platform with the same kind of audience guarantees available with traditional TV.

"Cross-platform audience measurement is critical for advertisers looking to leverage the trend of increasing over-the-top video consumption," said Megan Clarken, the executive VP of global watch product leadership at Nielsen. "By working with Roku to measure live streaming and on-demand advertising on its platform, we can gain great insights into OTT viewing and expand the measurement and delivery of Total Audience Campaign and Content insights for all of our clients."

"We believe all TV will be streamed, and with it all TV advertising," added Scott Rosenberg, the VP of advertising at Roku. "We're excited to join forces with Nielsen to significantly advance the measurement and value of OTT advertising. With Nielsen, we're integrating these capabilities directly into the Roku OS, enabling Roku's channel publishers and advertisers to measure and transact on the industry's leading metrics."