Coming Soon: Twitter Nielsen TV Ratings

— -- Twitter is partnering with Nielsen to provide a "common benchmark" from which to measure a TV program's engagement.

The "Nielsen Twitter TV Rating," as it will be known, will be available for the fall 2013 TV season. The two companies revealed little information about how the rating will actually work except that it will "serve to complement Nielsen's existing TV ratings, giving TV networks and advertisers the real-time metrics required to understand TV audience social activity." The ratings will also build on NM Incite's SocialGuide audience engagement analytics platform, which is the hub of Nielsen's social media analytics effort.

This is not the first time Twitter and Nielsen have joined forces. The two also partnered in October on a research program based on Twitter-based surveys.

Nielsen, which is known for its TV ratings, is hoping to adapt to the multi-screen age. Meanwhile, Twitter and Facebook -- which also partnered with Nielsen in August 2011 -- are looking for ROI data to show to advertisers and media companies. At present, there are lots of ways to measure engagement for TV programming, but no standard. Twitter and Nielsen hope the Nielsen imprimatur can change that.

Peter Rice, Chairman and CEO, Fox Networks Group, said in a press release that, "combining the instant feedback of Twitter with Nielsen ratings will benefit us, program producers, and our advertising partners."

This story originally appeared on Mashable.com.