CNBC Drops Nielsen Ratings for Daytime Shows

Business network CNBC is dropping the use of Nielsen ratings for its daytime programming, eliminating the long-held standard for measuring the popularity of television shows in the U.S. The channel will instead use a research firm called Cogent Reports at Market Strategies International, which will survey more than 1,000 investors and financial advisers once a week to determine CNBC’s ratings.

The move is emblematic of a growing frustration among network operators that Nielsen, which focuses on tracking viewing at home on traditional TV sets, does not properly capture their full audience. CNBC says it also wants to tally viewers who watch its shows at the office or at airports, the Wall Street Journal reports. Meanwhile, Viacom’s CEO criticized Nielsen in November for failing to comprehensively track the viewing of shows on mobile devices and gaming consoles. Nielsen has pledged to deliver comprehensive measurement metrics as consumers’ viewing habits rapidly change.

Nielsen will continue to track evening programming on CNBC.

[WSJ]