Nielsen to track student viewing

College students will no longer be invisible to the company that measures TV viewing once they leave home.

Starting this week, Nielsen Media Research will begin tracking what college students are watching in their dorms, a development that could significantly boost the ratings -- and advertising income -- for programs popular among young people.

College-age students had been included only when they watched TV in their parents’ homes. But now, Nielsen will attach its “people meter” to televisions in dorm rooms, common areas and wherever students watch TV.

To start, 130 college students are participating in the study, through which assumptions will be made about college-age viewing in general, Nielsen spokesman Gary Holmes said Monday.

It’s the first in a series of steps Nielsen is planning over the next few years to measure TV viewing outside of the home.