US ratings body Nielsen Media Research will begin monitoring video-on-demand viewing habits in the States next year.

It is expected that Nielsen will begin releasing VOD viewership data during the second quarter of 2006.

Cynopsis reports that Nielsen will at first concentrate on timeshift programmes recorded on DVRs; for example, a programme recorded live and then watched within a week. Later in the year, the new measurements will also report on other VOD applications such as pay-per-view movies.