Nielsen has caught up to the rest of the world. Its old model of counting television viewers has not taken into account related activity on social media. Playing catch up, that has changed. Whether it will help its TV clients is another matter.

Traditional television companies are used to Nielsen data gathered from televisions viewers directly. The environment around these viewers has not been measured. Advertisers that use television may be disappointed by the opinions social media users express about programming.

As a change in its model, the ratings company announced:

Nielsen today announced that it is expanding Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings to include Facebook conversation for the first time. With measurement of program-related conversation across these two social networking services at launch, and plans to integrate Instagram at a later date, Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings will become Nielsen’s “Social Content Ratings.”

Nielsen’s Social Content Ratings will be the first solution to measure aggregate-level program-related conversation on Facebook and Twitter, including posts shared with friends and family, with followers, and publicly. The expanded ratings are slated for commercial availability in the first half of 2016 and will be made available in all markets where Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings are currently available (Australia, Italy, Mexico and U.S.).

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How it works:

Nielsen’s Social Content Ratings will deliver standardized third-party measurement of program-related conversation for each social networking service tracked and gross totals across social networks. Measurement will include social media authorship (e.g., posts, Tweets), engagement (e.g., comments, likes, replies, Retweets, shares), reach (audience and impressions) and demographics (age and gender) as available.

The new rating system may show that people watch shows of which they have low opinions. In theory, that means viewers may not remain loyal, a sign to advertisers that sticking with these shows will bring little valuable return.

Along these lines:

By measuring program-related conversation across social networking services, TV networks and streaming content providers can assess the effectiveness of social audience engagement strategies and better understand the relationship between social activity and tune-in. Additionally, comprehensive social measurement for programming will support agencies and advertisers in making data-driven media planning and buying decisions as they seek to maximize social buzz generated through ad placements, sponsorships, and integrations.

“Social buzz” measurements are as likely to kill a show as help it. Not all social media activity is positive.

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