Rentrak, a company that measures TV viewing, announced a deal with mobile television provider Hiwire that calls for Rentrak to measure mobile TV viewing. The trial will take place in Las Vegas this summer, the companies said.
The partnership represents one of the first efforts to measure the viewing of TV on mobile phones. TV networks supplying content to mobile TV providers have said they are hungry for data on mobile TV ratings, which they can use as they begin to sell ads in mobile content.
Rentrak will provide Hiwire with information on total viewers of video programming and of video ads on mobile phones.
Hiwire is one of several mobile TV vendors, although the company is still testing its service. Rival Qualcomm, through its MediaFLO effort, has already racked up AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless as customers.
Qualcomm has said it expects to begin providing some measurement of viewing on its MediaFlo mobile TV service later this year.
Rentrak is best known in the TV business for its work measuring viewing of video-on-demand content for programmers and cable operators.
Daisy Whitney is a reporter with TV Week, a sister publication of RCR Wireless News. Both publications are owned by Crain Communications Inc.
