Mumbai: The Nielsen Company announced the commercial launch of NORA Nielsen On Demand Reporting & Analytics, a new measurement service that aggregates and anonymously reports on video-on-demand (VOD) usage based on real time transactions collected at the set-top box level.

Part of the Nielsen DigitalPlus service, this new web-based tool will also provide integrated data sets from other measurement services from across The Nielsen Company, including Nielsen EDI and Nielsen VideoScan.
 
The new NORA offering complements Nielsen’s existing panel-based National People Meter VOD Audience Measurement service.
 
At the launch, Comcast, the nation’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services, will be providing VOD data for the NORA service, covering 1 January, 2007 to the present.

Comcast will also begin using the NORA service immediately to analyze trends in VOD usage based on a number of factors, including programmer, program distributor, program category (e.g., if the program is available at no charge, is part of a premium service or is a title customers pay for individually) and the box-office revenue.

“Nielsen is very pleased to build on the success of our trial work over the past year with the commercial launch of NORA,” said Nielsen senior vice president of on demand and television practice Holly Leff-Pressman. “Between our new transactional measurement service for VOD and our National People Meter VOD service, Nielsen is well-equipped to help our clients make the most informed business decisions regarding the on-demand distribution platform.”
 
By providing set top box-level data on actual VOD selections, NORA will enable Nielsen clients to interpret VOD viewing trends as well as analyze the impact of VOD usage. Nielsen is also developing the integration of additional data sets into NORA, such as those from Nielsen Media Research, Claritas, ACNielsen Homescan and Nielsen Online.
 
“On Demand usage is skyrocketing with more than 275 million programs viewed monthly on Comcast alone,” said Comcast senior vice president and general manager of video products Derek Harrar. “Our work with Nielsen will help us better understand what our customers like to watch, which is an important part of our commitment to providing the best viewing experience possible.”