Nielsen adding tool to track diversity in TV programs

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Nielsen, the data powerhouse company known for providing TV ratings, will start offering analytics that measure the diversity of those appearing on TV shows, the company announced Feb. 17, 2021.

The service will be known as Gracenote Inclusion Analytics and will track a variety of specific metrics related to identity groups that will include gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and more.

This will include a share of screen metric that will examine recurring talent in a program, how much an identity group’s is depicted on screen compared to the overall real life population as well as the identity of viewers watching the specific programs.

The system will work by culling data from Gracenote’s Global Video program metadata, which includes talent race and ethnicity information and other sources within the Nielsen family to formulate its analysis.

Initially the service will track broadcast, cable and streaming on screen talent and but Nielsen plans to extend the product in the future to also examine those working behind the scenes as well as branching into theatrical productions.

Nielsen hopes the new service will become a benchmark for content creators, distributors and advertisers to quantify their current analytics as well as growth and progress over time.