Kelley Fay, Nielsen, Nielsen Life360, NM Incite and Bluefin Labs have been selected to work on the three different parts of the study. The first part sees Keller Fay conduct a quantitative survey of 1,600 respondents recruited by Nielsen. This is followed by a social media analytics project carried out by NM Incite and Bluefin Labs examining what insights social media conversations provide about TV viewing behaviours and what the key topics of discussion around programming are.

Lastly, Nielsen’s digital ethnography provider Nielsen Life360 will observe how 200 panelists consume media and technology for seven consecutive days.

The commercial companies are working with an academic team led by Dr. Peter Fader, professor of marketing at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Beth Rockwood (pictured), chair of the CRE, said: “This learning will allow us to better understand how viewing patterns are changing and how measurement of those behaviours can be improved. Since no single approach is likely to provide the full picture, we felt it best to study behaviours simultaneously from three different perspectives. In addition to learning about social media and television, we will also gain more insight about the research methods employed.”