The Media Rating Council, the industry’s measurement watchdog, said that Comscore’s national and local TV measurement products are currently in the accreditation process and are undergoing an MRC audit.
The MRC said the update is part of an effort to be more transparent.
Measurement is top of mind in the TV business right now, with Nielsen under fire and networks actively seeing alternative measurement providers.
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Nielsen’s national and local measurement products are currently not accredited by the MRC, which confirmed that Nielsen undercounted viewing during the pandemic. Networks are looking for alternatives to Nielsen and having the MRC‘s seal of approval would be helpful.
Comscore, one of Nielsen’s larger rivals, had also been unaccredited, but re-entered the accreditation process in October. The MRC is looking at what used to be called Comscore’s TV essential and Station View Essentials products.
The MRC’s review will be examining Comscore's national and local live and time-shifted, time-based grid reports, its household-level rating, average audience and universe estimates, as well as its household age and gender demographic breakdowns and other aspects of household composition.
The MRC is also auditing Comscore’s market definitions offering.
MRC currently expects to receive an audit report from its CPAs on Comscore TV for an audit committee review in early Q3 of 2022. The audit committee review is the first step in MRC’s accreditation consideration of a service. ■
