Nielsen’s agreement to use Amazon viewer data in football ratings is a first
Nielsen’s agreement to use Amazon viewer data in football ratings is a first
Independent ratings agency Nielsen plans to incorporate viewing data from Amazon in its “Thursday Night Football” ratings. This move to use third-party data is a first, as Nielsen has historically used its own independent data on viewership to share with advertisers.
As streaming becomes an increasingly popular way to watch anything from football games to “The Bachelorette,” it’s changing the way ratings data is collected and shared with advertisers.
In the entertainment business, the research firm Nielsen hasn’t just been a player, “it’s the whole game,” said New York University professor Charles Schreger. “Advertisers pay for eyeballs. And right now and for many years, the only relevant measurement has been from Nielsen.”
But as the way people watch TV has evolved past the television set, Nielsen’s viewer counting methods haven’t always kept up. Plus, more data firms have entered the field to fill Nielsen’s gaps, media consultant Brad Adgate said. “There’s a lot of different players out there,” he said.
Nielsen mostly stuck by its ratings system until Amazon claimed its own viewership data was more accurate, Schreger said. “And Nielsen is agreeing with that.”
If the Media Rating Council approves this change, Kevin Tran with Morning Consult said it could boost revenue for streaming platforms with viewership higher than what Nielsen first captured.
“It’s not unlikely that we’ll see other video streamers that have live events look to lobby for similar agreement,” he said.
This could bring a new wave of data sharing for platforms that haven’t always been so forthcoming, said Michael Pachter at Wedbush Securities. “It’s a move toward overcoming Netflix’s fear of transparency.”
Pachter added that it’s also good for writers, actors and others making the content to better understand the reach of their programming.
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