Among releases scheduled nationwide:The company that measures TV viewership will soon begin counting people who watch programming through broadband instead of a traditional broadcast or cable hook-up.
The move announced Thursday by Nielsen is a significant step toward recognizing a world where the definition of TV viewing is swiftly changing.
The number of homes without broadcast, cable or satellite service is growing each year. Most of those homes have TVs, however, and their owners watch programming through game consoles or services such as Netflix and Amazon. Starting in September, Nielsen will begin tracking the habits of these homes.
YouTube data helps rank Billboard songs
Viral videos are hits on the Web, and now they can help propel a song to the top of the Billboard charts.
Billboard has announced that U.S. YouTube data is now one of the factors when ranking Hot 100 songs and songs on its other charts.
The new rule went into effect this week, with the viral-video hit “Harlem Shake” debuting at No. 1. Other factors include radio airplay, digital download sales, physical single sales, on-demand audio streaming and online radio streaming. Billboard’s new rule incorporates all official videos.
“Harlem Shake” became a viral success thanks to hundreds of videos of people dancing to the song.
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