Netflix Matched YouTube's 18.5 Million NFL Audience. Nielsen Counted Them Differently.
Nielsen told networks that blending its numbers with their own data for comparative press claims is "not permissible." NBC's NFL kickoff was then reported down 11%, a Nielsen-only 25.1 million set against last year's 28.3 million Nielsen-plus-Adobe blend.
Read the full issue on ADOTAT →What the issue found
- Nielsen reminded networks that mixing its figures with internal or third-party data for comparative press claims is not permissible.
- NBC dropped its Nielsen-plus-Adobe blend for NFL games starting September 9, as a trial running through January.
- The 25.1 million kickoff is 3.2 million below last year's blend and 1.8 million above last year's Nielsen-only linear figure.
- Nielsen expanded co-viewing and reweighted Big Data + Panel on August 31, nine days before the NFL season opened.
- The NFL's Paul Ballew puts properly measured co-viewing at least two years away.
On the record
“rigorously enforced during football season.”
“overly rushed.”
Unmeasured takes apart one TV measurement number every week. Subscribe free to get it on Tuesdays.
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