Buyers and sellers can target political ads

With primary season approaching in an election year, Nielsen said it launched an upgraded version of its Nielsen Voter Ratings.

Nielsen Voter Ratings combines its national and local TV, audio and digital media consumption data with nationwide voter registrations to help media buyers and sellers more effectively reach potential voters by understanding their media preferences.

The election cycle is expected to generate about $10 billion in media spending, according to forecasters.

The big improvements to Nielsen Voter Ratings are an expansion into markets that now use code readers and return path data to measure media, providing the benefits of big data in all 208 TV markets and the availability of Voter Targets in Local Nielsen Media Impact, which enables cross-media planning and optimization.

"We're so excited to offer this enhanced solution that will give insights into voters’ media preferences and behaviors,” said Peter Bradbury, executive VP, media, at Nielsen. “Nielsen Voter Ratings integrates our TV and Audio panels with voter registration data to offer voter segments unique to Nielsen, a potential game changer in today’s dynamic political climate. With the presidential primaries beginning in February, this timely solution will facilitate the ability to reach custom segments of key voters.”

Nielsen said its Voter Ratings provides person-level insights for all people, no matter what their party affiliate, gender or age may be. It provides clients with a list of programs, networks, stations and digital properties to reach key voter audiences.