The social site has teamed up with Nielson to create a tool that measures social engagement on Twitter for television programmes.
Under the multi-year agreement with Nielsen, Twitter will measure the overall reach of TV conversations on its site.
The initiative was launched after several of Twitter's TV partners asked for a common benchmark to measure engagement happening around their TV programming.
"The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating is a significant step forward for the industry, particularly as programmers develop increasingly captivating live TV and new second-screen experiences, and advertisers create integrated ad campaigns that combine paid and earned media," said Steve Hasker, president of global media products at Nielsen. "As a media measurement leader we recognize that Twitter is the preeminent source of real-time television engagement data."
The new TV rating system aims to create a new dynamic between audiences and television programmes.
"The proliferation of smartphones and tablets has generated a substantial 'connected' TV audience that is simultaneously watching television and accessing the Internet through these devices," said David F. Poltrack, Chief Research Officer, CBS Corporation. "This, in turn, will continue to create the opportunity for content providers like CBS to offer engaging interactive features for our viewers."
The ratings from Twitter will be built on top of NM Incite's SocialGuide audience engagement analytics platform.
"Our users love the shared experience of watching television while engaging with other viewers and show talent. Twitter has become the world's digital water cooler, where conversations about TV happen in real time. Nielsen is who the networks rely on to give better content to viewers and clearer results to marketers," said Chloe Sladden, Twitter's vice president of media. "We're looking forward to collaborating with Twitter ecosystem partners on this metric to help broadcasters and advertisers create truly social TV experiences."
Twitter's TV Rating feature will be commercially available at the start of the fall 2013 TV season.
