Nielsen’s Gracenote unit has a new Mobile Video Analytics solution embedded in mobile phones that provides a range of information on the quality and performance of the most popular mobile video streaming applications.

It uses a combination of proprietary video quality and performance testing with real-time usage data from thousands of people in more than 125 nation markets. With the new SDK, Gracenote is assisting mobile operators, MVPD’s, video streaming services and hardware manufacturers with product development and marketing, user performance and pricing.

“The video industry has had different revenue streams,” says Mike Greenawald, SVP of Connectivity at Gracenote. “This revenue stream that we’re helping drive is really subscription revenue.”

Mobile Video Analytics focuses on three primary performance categories:

• Experience: Deep insights into the performance quality of mobile video services that have the biggest effect on a subscriber’s experience and satisfaction, such as video resolution, start-up times and buffering.

• Engagement: Engagement metrics to understand how, when and where viewers tune-in, average viewing time, as well as payload, stickiness, network access and speed.

• Attitudes: Reasons mobile users choose to subscribe to or disengage from specific streaming services, including their intention to switch and feedback on pricing.

In the case of low engagement, Gracenote Mobile Video Analytics can leverage passive video tests and survey responses to map user behavior and identify the cause of disengagement and churn.

“The problem we’re helping solve is how do you keep these subscribers for more than a month at a time,” Greenawald explains in this interview with Beet.TV. “Or for a show segment. Take a show like Game of Thrones. People may just subscribe for that six- to eight-week period and then shut their digital subscription off.”

Publishers can get a range of metrics, most importantly engagement, according to Greenawald. “That’s one of our core metrics. We look at how often mobile video subscribers use a specific service, when they use it, how long are they on it, when do they use it, what is the frequency or the re-use over a period time.

“If you take that and then you compare that against the other video services they have on their screen or their mobile phone, you’ll understand how well you’re doing against your competitors in one of the key metrics, which is engagement.”

Greenawald says Mobile Video Analytics is unique in its ability to conduct surveys among people recruited by demographics and geography, seeking insights on attitudes, engagement and performance. “It’s one audience that we’re capturing three key things. And we understand the relationship between of all three for our clients.”