IN TEST, NIELSEN WATCHES PEOPLE WATCHING TV OUTSIDE OF HOMES

Until now, ratings for television shows have been based on surveys of people in their homes. People watching TV in offices, bars, restaurants, assisted-living facilities, social centers, etc. have gone uncounted. However, on Thursday, Nielsen reported on out-of-home viewing data in Chicago that it collected over a three-month test period beginning in April — and it found that in the case of news and sports broadcasts, ratings spiked significantly. (In the case of sports they were up an average of 14 percent.) Among viewers in the key 25-54 age group, out-of-home viewing boosted ratings 7­9 percent. "Understanding how consumers view television away from home is critical to our clients and measuring out-of-home expands the viewing pie, as this test demonstrated," said Matt O’Grady, EVP Managing Director, Nielsen. "At Nielsen our priority is to measure audiences wherever they are viewing, both inside and outside the home, over-the-air, over-the-top and on mobile devices."