Advertisers who want to know how many people Nielsen counted watching “60 Minutes” or “Yellowstone” on Paramount Global-owned TV networks may have to work a little harder to understand what all the information means.
In a memo sent Friday to executives at major ad buying agencies, John Halley, president of Paramount’s ad sales efforts, said Paramount’s ratings data may be more difficult to understand following a new product update by the measurement giant. The two sides have been at odds since Oct. 1, when Paramount revealed it would not renew its deal with Nielsen, citing price increases and the easier availability of other measurement technology.
“Paramount will continue to provide Nielsen with the premier party schedule and programming information they need to accurately measure our viewership, including live events, as we always have. To be clear, Nielsen will have the relevant data, but will suppress your access to that data,” Halley said in his memo. “This decision was made by Nielsen and will impact the value and usefulness of your Nielsen data and tool licenses.”
Nielsen said it will continue to make Paramount data available to customers, although not in the same way as in the recent past.
“All of our customers continue to have a complete view of the market, while Nielsen continues to measure Paramount’s networks and streaming services. However, we have removed Paramount data from transaction files. We have made this data available in good faith over the past three months, even without Paramount as a customer,” Nielsen said in a statement. “Removing this transaction data is a necessary step to safeguard the investments of our paying partners. We remain open to future collaboration with Paramount on fair terms. We are working with selected customers who have been affected and we are guiding them through this update.”
Paramount relies on data from VideoAmp, one of a growing number of Nielsen rivals, to help advertisers track the number of people watching programs in Paramount’s media portfolio. And yet there has been reason for discussion. VideoAmp audience measurements for shows like “Yellowstone” have in some cases been higher than what Nielsen counted. Nielsen’s table remains the industry standard and is backed by the Media Rating Council, although VideoAmp has been adopted by many major media organizations and media buying agencies.
At issue is a long-standing complaint by TV networks that Nielsen is not measuring the many different audiences on their programs as well as they should, even as Nielsen continues to push new technology and concepts.
As smartphones, mobile tablets and broadband TVs gain consumer acceptance, viewers can increasingly stream their TV favorites on-demand, making counting them exponentially more difficult. TV networks have long based their ad rates on Nielsen’s measure of linear TV audience, which has declined as consumers embraced Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming and on-demand options. An industry consortium that includes Paramount, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery and others as members has thrown its support behind both VideoAmp and Comscore, another measurement competitor.
At the same time, Paramount is under extreme pressure to cut costs. The company is about to be acquired by Skydance Media, and the current management team has already started cutting $500 million from its operating structure. Skydance Media has formulated a plan that would cut costs by an additional $1.5 billion.
In the memo, Paramount’s Halley promised to continue to keep buyers and advertisers informed. “We will continue to send you stewardship, plans, etc. in terms of alternative currencies, and will work with your teams to provide holistic supply views of the market, in terms of that data, for use in your advance planning,” he says. said. “We understand this is disruptive. We will bear as much of the operational burden as possible and will continue to strive to be the best partners in the market.”