The non-profit trade association that represents many of America’s commercial television broadcasters has criticized a recent report from Nielsen for what it describes as shortcomings in the measurement of ad-supported networks and streaming services.
The report, called the Ad-Supported Gauge, is “missing key context that would help advertisers, brands, the public, and the media accurately understand today’s viewing landscape,” the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) said in an email to The Desk on Wednesday.
The initial Nielsen report released last month found streaming platforms accounted for nearly 47 percent of all ad-supported TV consumption in the United States among viewers over the age of two years old, a demographic known as “P2+.” Broadcast networks accounted for 28.2 percent of ad-supported TV viewing among the same group, while cable networks captured 25.2 percent.
Taken as a while, traditional TV platforms — broadcast and cable — captured the largest portion of ad-supported viewers, though streaming platforms increased their share on a year-over basis, according to Nielsen’s data.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story, and the narrative it does paint is not accurate, TVB contends. For one, Nielsen doesn’t include data from the Advertising Research Foundation’s (ARF) DASH study, which showed lower broadband-only household penetration during the first three months of the year — the same time period that Nielsen’s Ad-Supported Gauge covered.
Nielsen attempted to incorporate ARF DASH data into its Gauge reports earlier this year, but the effort was met with strong resistance from some of its streaming clients, and the company eventually reversed course — a move that delayed the release of its February report.
TVB acknowledged Nielsen worked with the Media Research Council (MRC) to incorporate ARF DASH data into its reports for clients earlier this year, but opted not to do the same for the Gauge reports after some clients pushed back. That effectively means Nielsen is telling two different stories about TV consumption — one to paying clients through proprietary reports, and another to the public through the Gauge.
The methodology Nielsen continues to use for the Gauge not only includes data that conflates broadband-only viewership, it also relies on the P2+ demographic that few broadcasters and cable networks use to transact with advertisers. Traditional broadcast networks typically sell against a demographic that includes viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 (P18-49), while cable networks focus on a slightly older audience (P25-54).
“When this same methodology is applied to adults…, linear television’s share increases while streaming’s share decreases, providing what TVB believes is a more accurate representation of the viewing habits essential to advertisers,” the organization.
A spokesperson for Nielsen declined to comment on TVB’s claims.
TVB also took issue with Nielsen regularly including YouTube in its Gauge reports, noting that the content offered through the social video platform is not comparable in production or quality to what is found on premium streaming services and traditional TV networks.
“Because YouTube’s content is primarily user-generated and shorter form, and due to inherent qualitative differences between YouTube’s content and linear long form content, it should be considered separately,” TVB said.
That perspective is critical, because streaming’s share in Nielsen’s Gauge reports are often propped up by YouTube, which can account for as much as 13 percent of viewership. Over the past year, The Desk has consistently broken out YouTube’s share of viewership from the rest of the streaming industry — and, until recently, traditional broadcast networks always accounted for a larger share of viewership compared to streaming with YouTube factored out. (The Desk stopped producing its own monthly analysis of the Gauge after Nielsen delayed the February report.)
The gap has narrowed in recent months as more TV consumers shift away from expensive cable and satellite packages in favor of streaming-only options. Each of the four broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC — now distribute their premium content, including live sports, through standalone streaming products, which has further accelerated the trend.
Still, TVB contends that incorporating standardized data and zeroing in on specific demographics offers a stronger, more-holistic picture of what is going on in the TV landscape, and speaks directly to how broadcasters, cable networks and premium streaming platforms — not counting YouTube — sell their product to advertisers.
The TVB statement is the latest criticism over Nielsen’s handling of viewership data in an era where streaming platforms are complicating the landscape.
Last year, an executive with the National Football League (NFL) — one of Nielsen’s largest sports clients — criticized the company’s measurement solutions as “inadequate,” claiming it misrepresented viewership of football games across streaming platforms. Two years earlier, Nexstar Media Group, the largest local TV broadcaster in the country, issued a proposal for alternative currency solutions after expressing frustration with Nielsen’s products. Executives at Fox and ESPN have expressed similar concerns about Nielsen’s measurement solutions.
Notably, all four companies are still Nielsen clients.
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