Nielsen is rolling out major currency upgrades ahead of the new broadcast season. The changes take effect August 31 and refine Big Data + Panel measurement.
What We Know: Nielsen shifted its currency to Big Data + Panel measurement last September. Now, the company is layering on seven additional enhancements. Updates include better co-viewing detection through wrist-worn wearables, adjusted DASH Universe Estimates, and a revised Household Demographic Assignment Model. Further changes touch weighting, Hispanic-market surveys, ACR tuning, and household grouping for one Big Data provider. This marks the third major change to measurement in the last two years.
What They Said: Karthik Rao, CEO, Nielsen: “We are relentless in our pursuit of delivering the most accurate measurement possible for our media and advertising clients. We’ve spent months working hand in hand with them and industry experts to make Big Data + Panel even more accurate.”
CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson (via Front Office Sports): “What we’re pleased about is that the viewership metrics are finally capturing what we think is the accurate audience.”
What Remains Unclear: Nielsen stresses that accuracy gains won’t necessarily translate into higher ratings for any given program. Meanwhile, the company hasn’t detailed how advertisers should expect currency numbers to shift once the changes land. How this change in measurement affects live events is unknown. This new measurement was tested earlier this year for Super Bowl LX.
What It Means: Broadly, these updates continue Nielsen’s push to modernize measurement following last year’s Big Data + Panel transition. Consequently, clients get more time to prepare, since Nielsen shared preview data ahead of launch. Still, the real test comes once the industry sees the new numbers in action. For now, Nielsen remains positioned as the dominant measurement currency heading into the new season. Following the findings with the new measurement, we will see if that changes.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.