As streaming consumption grows, combining this viewership data with traditional TV panel ratings can paint a fuller, more accurate picture of total TV engagement. We walk through how streaming stats can be fused with panel data to enable cross-platform measurement.
The Fragmenting TV Landscape
The proliferation of streaming services has fragmented TV viewership. Linear broadcast no longer reflects the total TV experience for consumers. Yet TV measurement still relies heavily on panel data providers like BARB in the UK or Nielsen in the US.
These panels use meters to capture viewing from a sample of representative households. But streaming viewing falls into a blindspot. As audiences increasingly migrate online, measurement methodologies must evolve to stay relevant in this changing landscape.
Evidence of Streaming’s Incremental Reach
A recent UK study conducted by Finecast combining addressable TV data with BARB panel ratings found +2.3% incremental reach into the 18-34 demographic and +1.3% incremental gain across all adults when integrating the datasets. This demonstrates streaming’s additional reach versus linear-only measurement.
Combining Complementary Datasets
Integrating streaming viewership statistics with panel ratings can help overcome their respective limitations. Panels offer rich demographics but lack census-level scale. Streaming provides complete census-level insights but no demographics. Together they can enable more comprehensive cross-platform measurement.
Key Steps for Data Integration
To integrate these datasets, a collaborative approach between measurement providers, broadcasters and streaming services is required. Critical steps include:
- Establishing data sharing agreements and privacy/consent standards.
- Anonymously matching households/devices between datasets.
- Classifying content into standardized taxonomies.
- Processing and validating data flows to meet standards.
- Deduplicating overlaps between datasets.
- Analyzing the consolidated insights.
Broader Perspectives Through Comprehensive Measurement
Fusing streaming viewership and panel ratings will be crucial for accurately measuring total TV engagement in the future. This unified data foundation enables richer insights like:
- Quantifying streaming’s incremental reach beyond linear TV
- Understanding viewing behaviors across platforms and demographics
- Evaluating cross-platform campaigns and attribution
As audiences and content distribution evolve, measurement approaches must keep pace. Combining streaming data into TV measurement will only become more essential for complete insights that reflect the new reality of how TV is consumed.