A new quarterly report from The Nielsen Company promises good things for location-based video network (a.k.a. DOOH) marketers and advertisers.

The Nielsen Company, the outfit probably best known for measuring TV audiences and compiling television ratings, last month published a report with important implications for the digital signage industry and marketers alike.

Nielsen's "Fourth Screen Network Audience Report," released in mid-April,  provides what the company describes as the "first ever standardized audience data" that makes it possible to compare nontraditional video screens, such as those used in out-of-home video ad networks, with traditional video-based media like TV.

Based on the measurement of people exposed to advertising on 10 location-based video networks - ranging from movie theaters to fitness clubs, restaurants to gas stations - the new report plainly illustrates the reach of nontraditional video networks.

According to the report, from September through December 2009, the monthly number of people exposed to advertising by the 10 location-based ad networks totaled more than 237 million. Of those exposed to the ads, 54 percent were male; the split by gender among those 18 to 34 years old was 50-50.

At first glance, the total monthly number of exposures is impressive from a quantitative perspective. In announcing the report, Nielsen issued a press release in which it compared the traditional primetime broadcast audience aged 18 and older for TV commercials in October 2009 with the number of exposures to ads on two movie theater networks.

The combined average exposure at the two theaters totaled 61.7 million. The average exposure to a primetime TV commercial was 3 million. In other words, a marketer would need to run 20 primetime TV commercials to equal the audience delivered by the two location-based video networks at the theaters.

The quality of exposure is equally impressive. Consider the proximity of the message displayed on a location-based video network to the point of sale. According to Nielsen, there were more than 61 million monthly ad exposures at bars and restaurants. How much more valuable are those exposures to someone with food or beverages to sell than exposures from non-location-based video media?

The real significance of Nielsen's report is that now marketers and advertisers have documented evidence from an organization with a long and well-respected track record of gathering and compiling audience metrics about the reach and viewership of location-based video networks. This measurement of out-of-home video network audiences is sure to add a much desired degree of legitimacy to this emerging category of media in the eyes of pros who make decisions on where to spend their clients' money, in no small part based on verified circulation numbers and viewer ratings.

It is important to note that the Nielsen report is the first in what the company plans will be a quarterly publication of audience numbers for place-based video networks. In succeeding quarters, Nielsen says it plans to expand the number of location-based video networks it measures. With each subsequent report, location-based video networks are likely to grow in stature in the minds of marketers and advertisers.

That should bode well for established media companies and entrepreneurs who have needed a way to add credibility to the idea of advertising on private, location-based video networks in the minds of those controlling how marketing and advertising dollars get spent.