Nielsen announced on October 18 that they will be able to measure the viewership numbers of programming from streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.

According to Brian Fuhrer, senior vice-president of Nielsen, television networks and studios will know how many people are watching their programming on video-on-demand services. ABC/Disney, A+E, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., and NBC/NBCUniversal are a few of the eight studios signed up to receive the information.

This new service will offer the same data that Nielsen already gives to linear broadcast and cable TV, including the numbers for Ratings, demographics, reach, and the frequency.

It will also give information about the selling programming between studio and streaming platform.

"Binge-culture"

As stated by Fuhrer, in an interview with Broadcast&Cable, the "binge-watching" became a new social behavior between those who watch TV regularly. Used as an example, an average viewer of "Marvel's The Defenders" watched 4.5 episodes on the first day of release.

Netflix has not made it easy to track the viewings of its series. The company erases codes that come with programming when it is delivered by the studio. The information is private to the streaming company.

Because of that, Nielsen is developing a proper new technique to capture the signature and viewers of the programming. First, the numbers will be given to the clients, and only after that, they will make it known to the press and public.

The company has not released any further information about when it will begin to measure the streaming platforms.

Viewership

It became common for the streaming services to keep the numbers from its TV shows private. A recent example is "Star Trek: Discovery," which was renewed for a second season by CBS All Access. Yet, the network gave zero information on viewership.

Instead, they only revealed that the series helped to grow its subscribe signatures per day, week, and month.

According to reports, almost 13 percent of television viewership is now contributed to streaming services. At least half of it is to Netflix, the leader in the segment, with the rest divided between the other digital platforms.

It is difficult to find out the exact percentage of each company.

Fuhrer said that Netflix has not complained about the new data so far, however, they don't have discussions with the platform. He did not comment if on whether conversations with Amazon, Hulu, or other digital services will happen as well.