NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations have signed new, expanded deal with Comscore, which will provide audience data to the NBC and Telemundo TV stations.
Related: Nielsen: Rivals Undercount Minority Viewers
NBCU has a long-term deal with ratings leader Nielsen and the stations will be using both data in their ad sales efforts.
A year ago, Comscore emerged from a audit resulting from account issues in its financial statement. The audit as expensive and time consuming. It lost key executives, delayed the launch of new products and has been losing money.
Despite that, it the last few months it has been signing new deals with station groups, including Nexstar and Gray Television.
Related: Nexstar Makes Deal with ComScore for Local Ratings
Adding the Telemundo stations is particularly interesting because Nielsen has been saying that using return path data to measure audiences--which is Comscore’s methodology--undercounts minority viewers, including Hispanics, which could result in less diversity in programming and on-air talent, and paint an inaccurate picture for advertising looking to reach those consumers.
The NBC and Telemundo stations will be getting Comscore’s linear TV measurement, as well as data on desktop and mobile viewing. The stations are also getting Comscore’s automotive, political and consumer targeting information.
“We are pleased to expand our relationship with Comscore from four markets to our full owned station footprint,” said Frank Comerford, chief revenue officer and president of commercial operations, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations. “As our industry continues to evolve and consumers’ consumption preferences change, Comscore’s currency will help us strengthen the way we already do business. As the only station group to have the ability to reach English, Spanish and bilingual audiences, Comscore’s suite of tools will make it even easier for clients and advertisers to optimize their investments in our stations.”
