Nielsen Media Research said Thursday it will begin measuring on-demand videos to give programmers a way to gauge the shows’ performance.

Broadcasters have long wanted to give viewers more choices of when they watch shows and this new system promises to provide at least a little information on how they might accomplish that.

CBS Corp. agreed to put six of its shows including “CSI” on Comcast Corp.’s video-on-demand service while Walt Disney Co.’s ABC is also looking at offering some shows on-demand.

The Los Angeles area is one of the preliminary test markets and will account for between 3 and 5 percent of the total national sample, Nielsen said.