Nielsen, looking to unify television measurement across platforms, technologies and devices, said it named Scott Brown as general manager, audience measurement, overseeing its linear TV, advanced TV and digital video products.
Brown has been chief technology officer for measurement products. In his new role, he will attempt to meet the demands of networks, advertisers, agencies, platforms and content creators for a clear view of media consumption across all platforms.
The move comes as Nielsen, under pressure from investors, is dividing itself into two companies, one focusing on global media measurement.
Related: Nielsen: Streaming Grows to 25% of TV Usage in 2Q
“Consumers are watching premium video in a fundamentally different way today than they were even five years ago. The opportunity for marketers is enormous. We’re bringing together the ability to effectively plan, optimize and measure through the full funnel so that marketers can monetize this opportunity to the fullest extent,” said Eric Bosco, chief product officer for Nielsen Media. “Scott will play a critical role in bridging all of our measurement solutions together to ensure that we meet the evolving needs of the market.”
Nielsen said Brown is overhauling its digital measurement methodology, which will enable it to create a flexible, independent platform that can quickly adapt to evolving privacy and policy changes. He’s also heading an effort to incorporate addressable advertising into TV measurement.
“Marketers and publishers want to understand their audience across all platforms in a simple way. They want to understand where the true incremental reach comes from and how different platforms and services perform to ultimately help inform both advertising strategies as well as program and content decisioning,” said Brown. “Nielsen has historically measured media types and platforms independently. However, as convergence across all media types continue, the industry will require a single methodology for a holistic view that captures how digital, connected TV and other platforms perform alongside linear TV. This is the holy grail.”
As CTO, Brown led the implementation of Nielsen’s measurement products across mobile, computers and connected TVs and migrated the company’s infrastructure to a cloud architecture.
Before that he was senior VP, technology and strategy. He joined Nielsen in 2009. Brown previously did IT consulting at KPMG.
