Nielsen's previously announced national out-of-home reporting service has begun -- with ESPN and ESPN2 as its first networks.ESPN and other television networks that subscribe will receive live program and commercial ratings through seven days of time-shifted viewing.

The service will combine Nielsen Portable People Meter (PPM) technology to measure OOH viewing and its national TV ratings panel. Nielsen says the service will be “providing clients with actionable data that quantifies the incremental audience that out-of-home viewing delivers.”

Nielsen originally announced the effort back in October 2016.

The national out-of-home service with Nielsen’s PPM technology will measure TV viewing in bars, restaurants, hotels, gyms and second TV homes -- deployed in nearly 77,000 panelists. Data comes from 44 local TV markets, enabling a Nielsen estimate for what people watch outside of the home across 65% of the TV U.S. household population.

ESPN says it originally worked with Nielsen on out-of-home measurement 20 years ago.

Artie Bulgrin, SVP, global research/analytics, ESPN, previously stated: “ESPN is viewed virtually anywhere there is a screen -- from sports bars to gyms, hotels and the workplace... [it] helps us double down on the power and delivery of live sports, while transacting on new, valuable audience segments for advertisers.”