Nielsen to Add iPads, Xbox, Streaming to TV Ratings

With fewer people watching TV in the traditional manner and more turning to broadband, iPads, and even the Xbox or PlayStation, the Nielsen Co. plans to expand how it measures program ratings, reports the Hollywood Reporter. By September, Nielsen expects to have new hardware and software in its 23,000 sample homes to better chart what people watch, including those who stream shows on various devices from Netflix, Amazon, and others.

A second phase will more fully incorporate viewing on iPads and tablets, and that should be in place by the end of the year. The big TV networks have been pushing for the move for a while. Nielsen also announced it was teaming up with Billboard to track YouTube views—from now on, Billboard will factor the data into song rankings on its Hot 100 singles chart. (More Nielsen ratings stories.)