The National Association of Broadcasters said a successful test transmission of a Nielsen audience measurement watermark has been conducted using the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard.
The test was conducted by Tribune Media’s WJW late last month at the NAB/Consumer Technology Association ATSC 3.0 test station in Cleveland. The NAB bills the facility as a “living laboratory” to test ATSC 3.0 features, equipment and technologies.
The watermarks are inaudible signals in a program’s audio that help identify the program for audience measurement purposes.
Catherine Herkovic, executive vice president and managing director of local television at Nielsen, said the transmission of watermarks will enable backers of the so-called Next Gen TV standard to measure its impact with audiences.
“These transmissions validate that Nielsen audience measurement performs optimally with next-generation digital TV standards,” she said.
“Broadcasters are eager to deliver interactive benefits and dazzling features through Next Gen TV to our millions of viewers, and this milestone brings us another step closer towards the deployment and adoption of Next Gen TV,” NAB chief technology officer Sam Matheny said in a statement. “We thank Nielsen for their hard work, and we will continue working with them and others to bring Next Gen TV to market.”
