Nielsen’s Gracenote expands content analytics capabilities with launch of Audience Predict

Insights into potential future entertainment programming performance empower content distributors and owners

Emeryville, CA – Dec. 8, 2021 – Gracenote, the content solutions pillar of Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN), has unveiled Audience Predict, a new content analytics tool that forecasts potential future entertainment programming performance. Leveraging industry-leading Gracenote content metadata, currency-grade syndicated Nielsen audience measurement data and advanced machine learning technology, Audience Predict equips content distributors and owners with predictive insights to make strategic decisions that maximize return on programming investments. 

The number of video programming distribution outlets is on the rise today as new streaming market entrants join legacy streaming services and linear TV networks. With so many entities vying for content to attract viewers and fill their catalogs or schedules, decision making around distribution has become increasingly challenging. Consequently, the content marketplace is seeking easy-to-use tools that provide real-time insights into how programs will perform and whom they will attract which will inform buying and selling activities. 

Audience Predict analyzes relationships between streaming service or network distribution outlets and anticipated potential program performance utilizing years of proprietary Nielsen viewership data. The solution forecasts potential audience size, composition, reach, and viewing minutes under different distribution scenarios by considering program genre and drop patterns for streaming content or airdate, airtime and lead-in for linear content. Using machine learning, the model will iteratively improve and can be trained to output new program performance metrics based on customer needs. 

Audience Predict can help content creators and owners identify the most potentially advantageous streaming platforms or networks for their content and develop compelling program packages for target buyers. The solution enables data-driven decision-making on program acquisitions, renewals or cancellations for streaming and linear content distributors, forecasting which shows have the potential to draw the largest overall audience or best target segments. 

“The media ecosystem primarily associates Gracenote with advanced search and content discovery enabling TV providers to connect viewers to programming, but our industry-leading entertainment metadata and IDs have equally strong applications powering new analytics which inform smarter business decisions,” said Simon Adams, Chief Product Officer, Gracenote. “By helping the content community see into the future around program performance today, we’re helping them solve one of the most vexing issues they face – distribution complexity. This expands our larger Content Analytics offerings which help the entire media industry make more informed decisions.”

Audience Predict joins Inclusion Analytics in Gracenote’s new Content Analytics suite of offerings equipping the entertainment industry with powerful tools to inform business decisions on what to produce, whom to cast and where to place programming to maximize audience reach and return on investment. For more information on Audience Predict, visit www.gracenote.com/video/audience-predict/ or schedule time for a product demonstration at CES in January at https://events.nielsen.com/ces2022.

Gracenote is the content solutions pillar of Nielsen providing entertainment metadata, content IDs and related offerings to the world’s leading creators, distributors and platforms. Gracenote technology enables advanced content navigation and discovery capabilities ensuring consumers can easily connect to the TV shows, movies, music and sports they love while delivering powerful content analytics making complex business decisions simpler. Learn more at www.gracenote.com.