Qualms Set In on Mobile-TV Ratings

The amount of time that people are spending watching shows across various screens is increasing, according to Nielsen, yet the television ratings that programmers get paid for are sinking. Nielsen will launch a long-awaited fix that promises to measure viewing on mobile devices for the first time in a way that will show up in TV networks' ratings.

Programmers had been calling for such a change for years, in hopes that accounting for viewing of their shows on smartphones and tablets might reveal that the ratings declines plaguing the industry aren't as bad as they seem. But Nielsen's new mobile measurement capability is unlikely to move the ratings needle much for the this broadcast season. That is because, despite being announced to great fanfare a year ago with plans to take effect this fall, many TV networks and cable and satellite companies -- including the biggest one, Comcast -- haven't yet signed on.