M+E Connections

Nielsen is “making good progress” on its Gracenote Content Services strategy as publishers and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) “around the world recognize the increased value of our content solutions,” David Kenny, the company’s CEO, said May 6 during its earnings call for the first quarter (ended March 31).

Noting Gracenote is one of Nielsen’s “three essential solutions,” he said it continues to be the “global leader in entertainment metadata.”

The company also continues to develop “new solutions to address market needs on a global basis, particularly as content and streaming platforms continue to grow, creating more competition for audiences,” he told analysts.

As an example, he noted that Nielsen recently launched the new Gracenote service Personalized Imagery, which “allows linear and streaming TV providers to dynamically display program images that resonate with individual viewers based on their preferences and previous consumption.”

He called Personalized Imagery a “valuable tool that drives engagement and enables clients to maximize viewership on their platforms.”

Announcing that new solution in March, Nielsen said Personalized Imagery leverages Gracenote Video Descriptors including mood, theme and scenario in conjunction with cast information, and will help optimize providers’ proprietary content discovery experiences and third-party recommendation results.

With Personalized Imagery, linear and streaming TV providers and connected device makers can dynamically display program images capturing different aspects of a TV show or movie based on viewer preferences and previous consumption. For example, a theme such as “female bonding” might be the main element of a show that attracts one viewer’s interest while for another, its location or the presence of a favorite supporting actor could be the primary draw. The new Gracenote solution enables services to present the best images to individual viewers as they make tune-in decisions.

“I look forward to sharing additional new Gracenote products later this year,” Kenny said on the Q1 earnings call.

“New solutions for new products across discovery, marketing and insights” that the company is developing was cited by him as one of “three key growth opportunities” for Gracenote during the company’s Q4 earnings call Feb. 25. Other new Gracenote solutions have included Inclusion Analytics to “accelerate diversity in content and enable clients to create more… programming backed by our data-driven analytics,” he noted.

The other two opportunities he cited at the time were metadata and a “bold ambition for Gracenote,” telling analysts: “Gracenote can help studios leverage the Gracenote Content ID to attach a unique identifier to their content, which will serve to simplify and scale the distribution and discovery of content across the full range of channels and streaming services used by audiences today.”

Q1 Results

Nielsen Q1 revenue grew 2.5% to $863 million from $842 million a year ago, while income from continuing operations increased to $109 million (29 cents a share) from $60 million (16 cents a share).

The company reported an overall net profit of $576 million ($1.60 a share), reversing the $13 million loss (5 cents a share) it reported a year ago.

Outcomes & Content (including Gracenote) revenue inched up 1.8% on a reported basis to $231 million and grew 2.2% on an organic basis, “driven in part by improving trends in short-cycle revenues and solid growth in Content,” Nielsen said in its earnings news release.

“The uneven return of live sports due to COVID continued to play out in Q1 but we did see some improving trends in short-cycle revenue as well as solid growth in content,” Linda Zukauckas, Nielsen CFO, told analysts May 6.

Audience Measurement revenue increased 2.8% to $632 million on a reported basis and 2.3% on an organic basis, with “overall solid growth, most notably in digital measurement and with local pressures subsiding,” it said.

In Audience Measurement, the company was “encouraged by renewals in Q1 across both broadcast and digital pure plays with multiyear commitments and price escalators,” Kenny told analysts. The company’s strategic alliance with Roku
“substantially expands our footprint of smart TVs and other devices, now nearing 100 million in total,” he said, noting that, “as part of the alliance, our ad and content measurement products will also be integrated into the Roku platform.”

In April, the company announced the launch of Nielsen Streaming Video Ratings, which he said “provides unique visibility into total viewership and advanced audience demographic insights at the platform level, alongside linear TV ratings.” So far, “demand has been strong, with seven out of our top 10 clients already signed up,” he said, adding: “Combined with Nielsen SVOD Content Ratings, which provide ratings at the program level, we now deliver comprehensive streaming performance metrics across program, platform and streaming” categories.

The “New Nielsen”

The company completed the sale of Nielsen Global Connect on March 5. “With the Connect sale behind us, this marks our first quarter as the New Nielsen, singularly focused on the media ecosystem,” Kenny told analysts.

Nielsen has “made significant progress modernizing our technology and data science, which drives scale and efficiency throughout the organization,” he told analysts, adding: “We are driving growth from new solutions across all of our end markets and we are benefiting from the cultural transformation driven by a growth mindset. We have a compelling financial model and are focused on driving improvement across key metrics.”

The company’s “solid first quarter reflects the strong execution by our teams globally and we are excited about the opportunities ahead,” he said. “We have confidence in our ability to deliver on our 2021 plan and our medium-term targets. Across the board, our product-led strategy has been an important driver of our growth. We are adding new clients and markets while also bringing more services and value to existing clients.”