NEW YORK: Nielsen Media has entered into alliances with Scarborough Research to offer the NSI Profiler—a new qualitative television rating which combines Nielsen Station Index ® (NSI) ratings with Scarborough’s qualitative consumer indices.

This combination of Scarborough’s premier qualitative information with the NSI rating – the currency for television audience measurement – enables media planners to take lifestyle, shopping preference, and other consumer behaviors into account when determining the propensity of a viewer to tune into certain television programs.

The NSI Profiler will be made available through Scarborough’s PRIME NExT data analysis software to all clients who subscribe to both Scarborough Research and Nielsen’s local ratings service.

Scarborough Research president Bob Cohen was quoted as saying that an in-depth understanding of local viewer behaviour is necessary in today's scenario. “The creation of this qualitative rating will add a new dimension to the buying and selling process and ultimately improve our client’s return on their investment,” he added.

Nielsen Media Research GM - local service Jack Oken mentioned that this was the next logical step in advancing qualitative service for their discerning clients.