News Broadcasting
Nielsen US’ research council to study ways to improve TV measurement
MUMBAI: US television ratings service provider Nielsen has announced that The Council for Research Excellence will soon begin its first detailed study into one of the fundamentals of television audience measurement — the quality of the research samples from which the ratings are drawn.
The Council for Research Excellence was created by Nielsen last year via a dedicated $2.5 million R&D fund, and renewed for an additional $2.5 million earlier this year. The Council serves as an independent forum for Nielsen to gain greater insights and to ensure that client priorities are reflected in Nielsen’s R&D spending.
The Council’s first study will explore “non-response bias” in Nielsen’s national and local samples, including People Meters and Diary methodologies. The study will seek to understand if there are differences in viewing behavior between those households or persons that agree to participate in Nielsen’s samples and those that refuse to participate.
Do these differences have a material impact on reported ratings? The study is expected to take two years to complete at a cost of more than $1 million. A panel of experts will provide independent analysis and interpretation of the research that will be conducted by Nielsen Media Research.
This study will try to measure all non-responders,.Nielsen says that this is a first step in understanding if the television viewing among cooperators differs in any material way from viewing habits among people who refuse to participate in Nielsen’s samples. Since the ratings are used as currency for more than $70 billion in television advertising, we need to make certain that these estimates are as accurate as possible.
The chair of the Council is Ford global media manager Mark Kaline. He says, “This is an important subject and I am very proud of the work that’s been done already to dimension the scope of this research project. This is a great example of how the Council will work to benefit all who rely on audience research.”
Nielsen senior VP and chief research officer paul Donato says, “This proposal shows that the Council will produce research of the highest quality. This research has the potential to bring significant improvements to audience measurement. Results could offer new models for recruitment as well as improved sample representation.”
The research project will use questionnaires to collect responses. Incentives will have a key role in the study.
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI: Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
