The new service, which will start from 1^st January 2019, will measure and report on all audio content from participating parties, including broadcast, online and podcast.

Norway recently became the first country in the world to close national radio broadcasts on FM, transitioning to digital distribution.

The new measurement from Nielsen will track the number of listeners to each radio station, the time spent listening, and on what device they listened, using Nielsen’s Personal People Meter (PPM) technology that has been in place to measure radio listening in the country since 2006.

Carried throughout the day by panel members, the PPM device picks up an inaudible code included in broadcasts and reports the listening overnight via the telecom network. Digital online listening will be registered by a separate software, Software Development Kit (SDK).

Bente Paulsen, operations manager in Nielsen, said: “The purpose of the measurement is to give a representative picture of all listening behaviour. Data from the new measurement will indicate the strength ratio between the channels and give a precise basis for commercial and editorial use.”

Nielsen won the contract for radio and audio measurement after a tender process.

Åse Marit Linberg (MTG), chairman of the Norwegian Radio Committee, said: "We look forward to working on developing our radio and audio content through thorough measurement and reporting from Nielsen.”