Welcome to the blog of Dr. Lisa Burns' Media Studies senior capstone class (3:30 pm section) at Quinnipiac University. If you're looking for the latest on media industry trends and insightful media analysis, you've come to the right place!
Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Audience Metrics & Advertising Blog 2, Question 1 (Feb. 8)
Given the shifts in how audiences consume media
and issues with their methodology, do the Nielsen ratings still matter? Why or
why not? And what are some of the alternative ways to better track media
usage?Limit: 15 responses
Nielsen ratings have been around for ages. The company has always been backed by the Media Rating Council, “an industry organization that sets measurement standards,” and has worked to get information to advertisers so that they can make money on their television ads (Steinberg). However, with the rise in streaming services, and the hit of the pandemic changing media consumer habits, Nielsen’s credibility is being challenged. Streamers, television networks, and advertisers pay Nielsen around $637 million a year to gain access to their data on consumer behaviors, so that they can find who and when to target ads to (Steinberg).
Nielsen claims to be using strong, representative measurements of household viewing habits by using a “small panel system” in which they track around 40,000 individual households, putting in a device that detects everything coming in through the router, to see who is watching what, and when (Battaglio). Streamers and their parent companies, however, are upset over Nielsen’s findings during the pandemic, which showed that ratings went down. This, the Nielsen CEO attributes to a rise in streaming, YouTube, and podcasts, all of which are not measured by Nielsen (Battaglio). Therefore, these big companies are choosing to go their own way to determine ratings.
Thus, while Nielsen’s ratings still matter for live TV, as consumers and companies move to prefer streaming and online media, their ratings will matter much less. A larger tracking company, such as ComScore, claims to represent consumers better than Nielsen by looking at streaming channels on a larger scale, finding that TV consuming actually did increase in 2020 during the pandemic (Vinson). They collect data from 35 million households over 70 million devices, rather than the 40,000 households tracked by Nielsen. Due to the larger sample size, their ratings are far more likely to be representative to the general population, including Black and LatinX communities, as well as lower income households. The Nielsen tracked households tend to be older, whiter, and more affluent (Vinson).
The alternative ways that companies are choosing to track and target ads are quite inventive. Rather than doing ads for the public, some companies are choosing to be more focused, allowing different ads to be shown in different households, making ads more like on social media but with the high quality of TV, and by adding cheaper options with a smaller outreach to smaller companies (Lee et al.). WarnerMedia aims to create its own tracking service that can count subscriber activity on both television and streaming, as they own both, including HBO Max, which many people have struggled to understand the subscriber amounts of (Steinberg). The only drawback to this is advertisers are worried paying for a service to track data that they are trying to sell to is counterproductive.
Tracking of streaming services can be done, as shown in a 2019 study from Princeton University. The study tracked smart TV devices, such as the Amazon Firestick and Roku. The researchers created a system that downloaded channels (streaming apps) and watched programs from them to intercept data on who was watching them. The data included their device, the show, their location, and Apple ID. Many streamers also revealed the titles of the programs these people were watching without encryption (Moghaddam et al.). The only red flag raised here is that the Roku is very vulnerable to tracking and accessing data on consumers, so if consumers want to retain privacy, they need to think about the data streaming services might be collecting.
Overall, while consumers need to be careful of how much they are being tracked, companies deserve to separate from an outdated system controlled by Nielsen, as we move into the future of streamers and more consumer-directed advertisements.
Works Cited Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny. Lee, Paul, et al. “Addressable TV ADS: Targeting for Reach.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 4 Jan. 2022, https://deloitte.wsj.com/articles/addressable-tv-ads-targeting-for-reach-01641310928. Moghaddam, Hooman Mohajeri, et al. “Watching You Watch: The Tracking Ecosystem of over-the-Top TV Streaming Devices.” Freedom to Tinker, 18 Sept. 2019, https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2019/09/18/watching-you-watch-the-tracking-ecosystem-of-over-the-top-tv-streaming-devices/. Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/. Steinberg, Brian. “Nielsen Plans Overhaul for Commercial Ratings, Will Track Viewers for Specific Ads.” Variety, Variety, 22 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7. Vinson, Dr. Michael. “Setting the Record Straight about Modern Media Measurement.” Broadcasting Cable, Broadcasting+Cable, 21 Oct. 2021, https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/setting-the-record-straight-about-modern-media-measurement?utm_campaign=US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS&utm_medium=email&utm_source=comscore_elq_US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS.
Nielson ratings have been used since the 1950’s to measure what and who in the average U.S. household is watching. You heard it right 1950’s, its 2022! Media consumption today isn’t strictly done on one household television set in the living room. People are watching their favorite shows, sporting events and more so than ever binge-watching complete seasons of their favorite shows in a matter of days. Has Nielson accounted for those households that binge watch complete seasons in a matter of days? Companies got very nervous in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic when television watching dropped even when people were spending so much time at home (Battaglio). I think that Nielson’s antiquated ways of measuring the data by installing devices in the homes of consumers needs to change. How can measuring just a small, select sample of homes really be an accurate picture? Just because I have ABC or CBS on doesn’t mean I am watching those shows, maybe I fell asleep, so why should that count? I can understand why the major networks were upset when families were staying home and watching less television. It’s not Nielson they should blame, but the popularity of streaming services.
It seems that consumers are moving faster than the Neilson company can keep up. This may be an opportunity for new data analytic companies to get in the ratings game. If the major networks invest in their own in-house rating departments, they would be able to focus on the consumers that tune into their station and their specific streaming platform, just a thought. Every day there is a new streaming service, enticing viewers with lower rates and new cutting-edge content. Perhaps Nielson should not rely on picking one show on the streaming platforms to track but instead track how (devices) their viewers consume and what content they prefer. With the announcement of Nielson ONE measurement system, maybe they are headed into the twenty-first century (Hsu). With the fear that more households will be cutting their cable service providers companies like Nielson should be prepared to shift as well.
Ratings are something, at least in my opinion, don’t really matter to me. I will watch the content I enjoy watching. I think ratings companies should shift to measuring content. With so many streaming services, it really comes down to content. If original content about a professional athlete on Hulu doesn’t bring in viewership, then Hulu should re-evaluate their audience. The winners in the ratings race will be those streaming services who partner with the right tech companies that provide them with cutting edge analytics. Adapting to the new way viewers consume media will be important for streaming services as well as Nielson.
References Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny. Hsu, Tiffany. “Now TV Wants Nielsen to Measure Up.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 Nov. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/business/media/nbcuniversal-nielsen-tv-alternatives.html. Kirst, Seamus. “What Are Nielsen Ratings and How Are They Calculated?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 18 Dec. 2015, https://www.forbes.com/sites/seamuskirst/2015/12/18/what-are-nielsen-ratings-and-how-are-they-calculated/?sh=24231f0656e0. Steinberg, Brian. “Nielsen Plans Overhaul for Commercial Ratings, Will Track Viewers for Specific Ads.” Variety, Variety, 22 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7. Wanberg, Laura. “Are Nielsen TV Ratings Still Practical? Tell-Tale TV.” Tell, 29 June 2021, https://telltaletv.com/2021/06/are-nielsen-tv-ratings-still-practical/.
Gage Kilborne 1 I believe that the Nielsen ratings don't matter as much as they used to because the United States has seen a growing number of households cutting the cord. A big example of Nielsen not mattering as much as it used to was during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic because many people were stuck in their homes and were trying to find some forms of entertainment but they didn't go to their cable boxes, they instead went to streaming services(Battaglio). I was one of those people who used my Netflix account more than I used my cable box because the news was all negative about the virus meanwhile streaming services provided me with a positive place to get away from all the negativity in the world. With the amount of households that went to streaming services, Nielsen ratings were not prepared to put those into their statistics and because of that, many consumers were not too pleased with what the company did as a result(Battaglio).
Another big problem that Nielsen TV ratings is finding is how out of date they are, they are still basing their analysis based on methods that have been using since the 1950's(Vinson). Now usually keeping things how they were from 70 years ago means that there is a strong history there, however in the television market that is not true. In TV there is a saying that gets used constantly, "Out with the old, in with the new", as a way to keep providing the audience with new content(Vinson). If television kept dumping out the same content for the past 70 years, the audience will get bored of it and they will just turn off the TV but if they provide new and exciting content, the audience will stay engaged with the product. The problem with Nielsen is that because they have been using the same methods to receive data from the 1950s, the data is not as reliable in today's society since people are changing from cable to streaming services, this is why Nielsen ratings don't matter as much as they used to.
Gage Kilborne 2 Following Nielsen's struggles from recent years to provide accurate TV ratings, another rating service wants to enter the mix. Comscore established ConsumerView as a way to provide more accurate statistics for consumers and what they are viewing in their homes(Poppie). ConsumerView is going to provide with more in-depth anaylsis on the topic such as demographics of the viewers ranging from race to economic class to help provide the advertisers with more statistics to use in order to gear advertisements more towards a certain targeted audience(Poppie). This is probably going to be a more accurate study than Nielsen because Nielsen is more based on computer data than based on the demographics of who is watching what which will allow more accurate data for the advertisers.
With all of this being said, I am one who never really put much thought into the Nielsen Ratings because I never really focused on films in too much detail. However, after looking at this, I realized that Nielsen has been struggling with providing accurate ratings in recent years which in turn saw the movie companies were loosing money in the box office and on television because people were going off of the Nielsen ratings instead of their own opinions.
Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny. Poppie, Molly. “The Not-so-Hidden Problem with Big Data Sets.” Broadcasting Cable, Broadcasting+Cable, 19 Oct. 2021, https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/the-not-so-hidden-problem-with-big-data-sets. Vinson, Dr. Michael. “Setting the Record Straight about Modern Media Measurement.” Broadcasting Cable, Broadcasting+Cable, 21 Oct. 2021, https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/setting-the-record-straight-about-modern-media-measurement?utm_campaign=US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_source=comscore_elq_US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS.
Nielsen has been the main data company that tracks TV viewership’s since the 1950’s. The company focuses on viewership counts which then provides TV networks with how to set their advertisement rates. (Steinberg) But as the world and media is changing, as well as the hit of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nielsen has struggled to keep up with the times as media services, like streaming have come into many US homes, and people are now watching less TV. Nielsen install their own measurement equipment into homes of agreed viewers to track local and national TV ratings. (Battaglio) Because of the change in habits to media consumption, Nielson has been unable to properly track viewership, resulting in a major loss of millions. (Battaglio) Nielson has been able to reliably give advertisers audience viewership for decades, and yes, they have been too slow to merge with new media like streaming services and YouTube, they have the money and the history to be able to grow into today’s age. Nielsen have been working on new technologies that they plan to debut in 2022. (Steinberg) Nielsen needs to focus on expanding their technology to ensure they are still one of the top viewership companies. Networks like NBC and CBS are considering other companies, as well as even producing their own technologies to track their data. As Nielsen focuses on TV, they still matter to households that only watch TV without streaming services, which is 50% of homes with Nielsen’s panel. (Battaglio) David Kenny, Chief Executive of Nielson, believes all of the panels will have streaming, which will make the Nielsen ratings matter less because of the unreliability of people watching TV and other video media. Companies like Netflix allow audiences to have ad free shows and movie while other services like Hulu, HBO Max and Peacock have fewer ads, basing their specific ads on their location and buying habits. (Steinberg) An issue that also surrounds Nielsen is the small group of people Nielsen track. Their data tracks mostly white, more affluent and significantly older part of the US. (Poppie) So saying this, having little data from Black or Brown people, as well as people from lower income gives a less accurate data score. (Poppie) Nielson have confirmed its new metric, ‘The Gauge’ in June 2021, which is the new technology used to track viewership on streaming platforms. (Koblin) This software as of June 2021 was in 38 thousand homes in the US and only counts television views, not phones or laptops. (Koblin) Netflix were initially unimpressed by Nielsen’s way to track viewership but are starting to change their minds with the introduction of the Gauge, with Co-Chief Executive of Netflix Reed Hastings, stating how Nielsen are in a ‘good place with the changing US television landscape.’ With the growth of Nielsen being slower than the audiences shifts, companies are looking elsewhere to track their viewership. Companies like NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia are considering new ways to track their viewership. NBCUniversal is using another service called iSpot.tv. which is set to track audiences from TV and streaming services. (Battaglio) Companies are also trying to come up with their own programs to track viewership, like WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS. Overall, Nielsen are in trouble with the world changing their way of watching media and Nielsen have been too slow to change. Nielsen are now producing software to track other media, but the question now is, with relationships they used to have with streaming services, along with relationships they have now with TV networks, is Nielsen something from the past and is it time for something new?
Rita Sherban Shows like Seinfeld and M*A*S*H boasted high Nielsen ratings for their series finales. Television executives used to live and die by the ratings Nielsen gave them, but this reliability from a company that made its name during the height of linear television has dwindled. The company must learn to reinvent itself and its methodology or else it will be forced to the wayside. Technology companies, like ComScore, are eager to replace Nielsen and become the new, trusted media metrics company for the streaming era. However, Nielsen is not ready to leave without a fight. Nielsen has boasted that their metrics are trusted and reliable, although this claim has been disproven by competitors such as ComScore. According to ComScore, “Nielsen has not been able to incorporate large-scale data in their own methodology in a credible way. They continue to rely on small panels with single-digit response rates that ignore most of the population.” Meanwhile, Nielsen says that their robust panels provide the most accurate information as it is coming from real consumers (Poppie). Nielsen measures viewership on ad breaks, but commercial breaks mean something else in the age of streaming (Steinberg). Advertisements are now tailored to a person’s consuming habits, and it is hard to measure ratings when consumers are exposed to a myriad of different ads based on their buying behavior (Steinberg). Nielsen is far from perfect when it comes to metrics, but the same is true for ComScore. ComScore relies on set-top data boxes, the company boasts that they are getting real metrics from real consumers, but there are downfalls to the new metric measurement. ComScore decided that set-top boxes were the best method for ratings, but it tends to skew the data as, “set-top box data…tends to overcount more affluent consumers…and thus disproportionately excludes lower-income consumers” (Poppie). Without proper demographics, it’s harder for advertisers to make informed decisions about where they should place their ads and who is going to be engaging in them.
Sherban (cont.) Despite downfalls from both media metric companies, the use of ratings is becoming obsolete. In a New York Times article, published in November of last year, companies like NBCUniversal and Warner Media have expressed their doubts about Nielsen. David Zaslav, chief executive of Discovery said, “I don’t have a lot of hope for Nielsen…we’re just going to have to work our way out of it…and leave them in the dust” (Hsu). Television executives have been saying that their shows garner more viewership than Nielsen is reflecting (Hsu). Without the proper adjustments needed to measure modern shows, advertising will fail, and new shows will barely make it past the first season. Nielsen must learn to adapt quickly to maintain its reputation as a leading media metrics company, while ComScore must fine-tune its set-top box data so that it is representative of a more diverse United States. However, television executives should not put all their faith in these companies like they have in the past as it may be inaccurate. To combat poor analytics for ComScore and Nielsen, streaming services should be more in tune with viewer engagement. Shows like Euphoria have been doing exceptionally well, not only through the model of one episode a week like traditional television but through social media like Twitter and TikTok. Word-of-mouth is still a very powerful tool that television companies should be more aware of.
Hsu, T. (2021, November 12). Now TV wants Nielsen to measure up. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/business/media/nbcuniversal-Nielsen -tv-alternatives.html Poppie, M. (2021, October 19). The not-so-hidden problem with big data sets. Broadcasting Cable. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/the-not-so-hidden-problem-with-big-data-sets Steinberg, B. (2021, November 22). Nielsen plans overhaul for commercial ratings, will track viewers for specific ads. Variety. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/Nielsen -tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7
“TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny. Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/. Steinberg, Brian. “Nielsen Plans Overhaul for Commercial Ratings, Will Track Viewers for Specific Ads.” Variety, Variety, 22 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7. Koblin, John. “Nielsen Now Knows When You Are Streaming.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 June 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/business/media/nielsen-streaming-metrics-netflix-youtube.html.
Nielson ratings have been present for many decades, as our options regarding T.V., and entertaining has evolved and expanded the need for Nielson ratings may not matter as much as they once had. Nielson ratings have been the scorekeeper for the T.V, business as these networks rely on its audience measurement data as they compete for $65 billion spent annually on advertising. In Stephen Battaglio’s article “TV networks are mad at Nielson. Can that company still count in the streaming age?” he states, “Tensions rose to a new level after networks saw television viewing drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most Americans spent much of 2020 indoors” (Battaglio). This surprised me as you would think given the pandemic all people would do is watch T.V. but then I came to the realization that the reasoning of this is due to the rise in popularity of streaming services. I believe the Nielson ratings need a change in the way they calculate viewing habits, not every recorded viewing habit in a household could even be considered accurate. Someone can just leave the T.V. on when nobody is around, or someone could just be viewing a specific channel out of boredom but have no real interest in what is being shown.
The way the Nielson tracking system is conducted is simply out of date as it has been around since the 1950s and has not kept up with the constant evolving industry that we know today. In Brian Steinberg’s article “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielson Measurement Alternative in 2022” he states, “The owner of popular media outlets like HBO, CNN and TNT intends to offer its own audience-measurement data next year” (Steinberg). It is no secret Nielson’s tracking method is out of date and other competition are taking notice of that. The owner of WarnerMedia stated “We are doing this because we believe that there has got to be a better alternative in measurement solutions, and we have a responsibility to our investments, to our clients and partners, and to counting the value of our audience — full stop,” said Zapata” (Steinberg). They are standing up and taking the plunge into something Nielson has not done and that is evolve with the time.
In another Brian Steinberg article titled “Nielson Plans overhaul for commercial ratings, will track viewers for specific ads” it is stated that “Currently, buyers and sellers transact on ‘C3’, which provides the average of all commercial minutes within a program,” says Kim Gilberti, senior vice president of product management at Nielsen, responding to questions via email. “As we move to a world where linear television is becoming more addressable, it’s important to be able to post on the individual ads that were served. Nielsen’s technology advancement gives us the ability to detect and credit tuning events at this lower level of granularity” (Steinberg). It’s clear Neilson is acknowledging the problems and that changes need to be made.
The alternative ways as previously mentioned that media usage can be better tracked is through better technologies that better fit todays evolving industry as well as developing a way to track streaming platforms as well. Companies like WarnerMedia are creating their own tracking service that can focus on both T.V. and streaming services regarding its customers and their habits. Overall, I feel that Nielson does not matter, at least in the way they are conducting their ratings system, this isn’t the 1950’s, other technologies and competitors are showing up left and right and Nielson’s old school methods simply are not accurate nor advanced enough to be efficient in today’s world.
Works Cited
Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/.
Steinberg, B. (2021, November 22). Nielsen plans overhaul for commercial ratings, will track viewers for specific ads. Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/
Cat Weber Nielsens purpose is to provide information to television networks about the engagement on their advertisements on their network. Linear television is being slowly replaced by other options leaving Nielsen behind in the race to collect accurate viewer data. Linear television is being replaced by streaming services. It is noted that “streaming now accounts for 37% of viewing for adults under age 55” (Battaglio). Collecting viewer data for streaming services can be difficult to put together but that is where a majority of people are viewing their content. It is vital for networks or services to know who is using their platforms and watching their content if they want to curate advertisements towards these viewers. Nielsen ratings is not out of the running when it comes to diving into this type of data collection. It is not the fault of a rating service that the service being rated is now at competition with other viewing services. Nielsen is in a position to avoid becoming obsolete if they are able to work with streaming services and other platforms to collect accurate viewer data. The viewer has moved somewhere other than their linear tv options to watch shows and movies, Nielsen should follow. Asking if Nielsen ratings still matter is difficult because the ratings themself matter but it can be done by other companies which is being seen with NBCUniversal, ViaComCBS, and WarnerMedia. These media companies are looking for new ways to measure their audiences (Steinberg). It seems that they might create their own rating system and department or use different media companies like Comscore.
Cat Part 2 YouTube will work with Nielsen and WarnerMedia has said that Nielsen “can earn a place in our future” (Steinberg). Without a doubt the ratings matter and are necessary to provide that curated ad experience for the viewer that all these services want. The way of viewing content is changing and the measuring of data needs to change with it. Measuring linear television as well as streaming is going to be the best attempt to track media usage. There are usually multiple devices in one household where viewing can take place. Working with the internet connection and what services are being used in certain households along with expanding their surveying pool to include different demogrpahics. With MCR revoked accreditation for Nielsen, alternative strategies are being created to accommodate the changing media industry. Working with streaming services and tracking more than just linear TV data will help Nielsen compete in this new growing ratings industry. Nielsen has a test called Nielsen One Alpha, that will focus on advertising measurement across linear TV, connected TV, mobile and computers (Adgate). Nielsen can stay in the running in the rating ndustry if they keep up with the changing viewing platforms of digital content.
Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny. Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/. Adgate, Brad. “Networks and Advertisers Are Looking to Replace Nielsen.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 21 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2022/01/20/networks-and-advertisers-are-looking-to-replace-nielsen/?sh=21ef2e51381b.
Traditionally, Nielsen ratings have been the standard method for media companies to track the number of viewers watching their television shows. However, the way people watch television has changed dramatically in recent years calling Nielsen’s methodology into question. Nielsen bases their ratings on 40,000 families' television watching habits. There are a couple of problems with this rating system. One issue is that Nielsen only measures views based on shows that were watched, broadcasted, or streamed on an actual television. This means that the views are not counted for any shows that were viewed on a laptop, tablet, or phone (Hsu, 2021). Another major problem is that Nielsen uses statistical sampling, meaning that all of their data is based on the 40,000 homes they track each year. While Nielsen claims that their data pool is diverse, there is no way of knowing that for sure. The fact of the matter is, a small data pool leads to inaccurate results. The pandemic has been a major reason that media companies have started to seek alternatives to Nielsen ratings. Networks noticed that their views were dropping on the Nielsen ratings during the pandemic. This is because Nielsen was unable to keep collecting the data from 40,000 families as they had in the past (Battaglio, 2021). This resulted in networks losing millions of dollars in ad revenue. I believe that the need for a new rating system is far overdue. Nielsen became inaccurate the minute people started streaming shows on their phones, tablets, and laptops. One of the companies that is trying out a new rating system is NBCUniversal. They are going to use iSpot.tv’s services for the Olympics and the Superbowl and then compare the results to the data collected from Nielsen for the same events. NBCUniversal is still partnered with Nielsen, but they have just added iSpot.tv in hopes of getting more accurate results (Battaglio, 2022). Either way, if iSpot.tv is able to provide more reliable data, Nielsen is most definitely in trouble. iSpot.tv is able to track views anywhere, on any device in all households by tracking ads using proprietary fingerprinting technology (Lafayette, 2017). This means that iSpot.tv has a much larger and much more accurate data pool compared to Nielsen. Overall, iSpot.tv’s data-tracking technology is a better alternative to Nielsen ratings. The best way to accurately track media usage is to collect data from as large and diverse a pool as possible, across all devices that television can be viewed on. As of now, iSpot.tv is the most accurate service when it comes to meeting those criteria. However, in a couple of years, there may be another service that is able to track ratings even better. Nielsen ratings are becoming more obsolete as these better alternatives are being developed. If they do not make serious improvements to their rating system, Nielsen could be irrelevant very soon.
Samantha Kaplan Part 2 Work Cited: Battaglio, S. (2022, January 13). NBCUniversal selects audience measurement alternative to Nielsen. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2022-01-13/nbcuniversal-selects-audience-measurement-alternative-to-nielsen?utm_id=46862&sfmc_id=4782528 Battaglio, S. (2021, December 13). TV networks are mad at nielsen. can that company still count in the streaming age? Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny Hsu, T. (2021, November 12). Now TV wants Nielsen to measure up. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/business/media/nbcuniversal-nielsen-tv-alternatives.html Lafayette, J. (2017, April 19). ISpot.tv adds attribution to TV ad measurement. Broadcasting Cable. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.nexttv.com/news/ispottv-adds-attribution-tv-ad-measurement-165010
Derek Goldrick - As technology advances and streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix and Peacock continue to grow, audiences are becoming less likely to stream in a linear fashion. The Nielson commercial ratings were adopted in 2007 and allowed for media companies to use these ratings to measure the viewership of ad breaks on TV. However, this was all before the streaming services we know today really took off. Nowadays, with most audiences viewing ads individually rather than linearly, companies are struggling to refer back to the Nielson ratings that were their foundation for so long as they just no longer apply. “Broadband video hubs like Hulu, Tubi, HBO Max and Peacock typically use fewer ads per hour, and often send specific ads to users based on their location and buying habits. In other words, the notion of a single viewer sitting through the same commercial break as every other person watching a particular video selection has quickly become relegated to the past.” (Steinberg). Although Nielsen has updated their technology and states they are able to track the audiences for individual ads, media companies are now on the lookout for new and improved companies. Media companies such as NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, WarnerMedia and Univision have all signed with rival vendors to help create new ways to measure audiences who are increasingly watching their TV favorites at times of their own choosing, usually via broadband technology. Other ways Nielson are updating their ability to track their independent viewers are by signing with technology companies such as Extreme Reach that specialize in placing digital watermarks along ads in linear TV. However, media companies combat that by making deals based on viewing of commercial breaks up to three days after their first airing called “C3”. Overall, the use of the Nielson rating system for media companies is out the door and no longer a necessity as it once was. With the way people stream and the popularity of streaming services continuing to climb each year, media companies and their technology must adapt.
Nielsen Plans Overhaul for Commercial Ratings, Will Track Viewers for Specific Ads Brian Steinberg Variety November 22, 2021 https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7 “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny. Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/.
Robert Fritz The Nielsen ratings have been the traditional form of gauging the publics interest in TV shows but as the world and technology evolve so does the way people look at TV. The Nielsen ratings are based off 40,000 families watching habits and that is only for shows on TV and not anything that can be streamed on another device in the house like a phone or a laptop. Nielsen ratings matter for the major networks as they rely on the Nielsen ratings for their advertisement sales but for the public, I do not know how closely people pay attention to them and if that would even influence their decision in watching a certain show or program. In an article written by Stephen Battaglio NBCUniversal will now start using alternative means to measure their program in conjunction with the Nielsen ratings. iSpot.tv will help NBCUniversal gain better understanding of their ratings as they’ll not only be able to track their tv ratings like Nielsen but also the ratings on streaming platforms. As the world changes and the consumption habits of the people change it is now on these media companies and corporations to catch up with the times. According to a Variety news article by Brian Steinberg this may already be happening “Both Nielsen and the networks can agree on one thing: The migration of TV viewers from the traditional experience of watching shows in linear fashion to new digital behaviors is taking place faster than anyone can track. That’s forcing the entire industry to take on the unenviable task of fixing an airplane after it has already taken flight.” These changes are happening faster than anyone could’ve have predicted, and some might say a part of that is due to the pandemic. The pandemic shut a lot of stuff down so new content and shows were hard to find in the beginning so people relied on streaming services to go back and watch shows that they knew the liked and were easily accessible at any time. The days of waiting around for a certain time on a certain day to watch a show is starting to become a thing of the past. The Nielsen ratings are a tricky thing as it comes down to who it actually matters to. Obviously, Nielsen still believe it matters “Nielsen remains the currency of choice for media companies, advertisers and agencies,” the company said in a statement to Variety (Zorrilla). The better or alternative ways to track these types of things is just by broadening the scope and going past just 40,000 families homes and going past just what is on the TV. There is a lot of shows and programs to consume in a multitude of ways and to narrow it down to one and base it off of one rating is foolish.
Battaglio , Stephen. “NBCUniversal Selects Audience Measurement Alternative to Nielsen.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2022-01-13/nbcuniversal-selects-audience-measurement-alternative-to-nielsen?utm_id=46862&%3Bsfmc_id=4782528. Steinberg, Brian. “Nielsen Plans Overhaul for Commercial Ratings, Will Track Viewers for Specific Ads.” Variety, Variety, 22 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7. Zorrilla, Monica Marie. “What Metrics Matter Most? TV Industry Grapples with Ratings Shortcomings in Fast-Growing Content Landscape.” Variety, Variety, 17 Sept. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/features/ratings-audience-measurement-metrics-networks-svod-1235060272/.
Nielsen has played a major role in measuring audience ratings for television, dating back as far as the 1950s. It’s been an important piece of how the major cable networks have operated on a day-to-day basis. Stephen Battaglio of the LA Times reports that the company “relies on 40,000 homes nationwide that agree to have measurement equipment installed in their households to track their viewing habits” (Battaglio). Now that it’s 70 years later, it feels like the system is starting to become more irrelevant in a modern and fresh media landscape. I personally believe that these ratings should be scrapped because there are so many different options to consume media now. As soon as the decline in traditional media began, so did Nielsen due to its issues in adapting for the current digital age.
As the country enters the streaming era, it’s getting more challenging to completely trust the legitimacy of the Nielsen system and its data that media companies have relied on so heavily. This was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when, “Nielsen concluded that TV viewing declined during the pandemic, whereas Comscore found the opposite: a substantial increase in TV and connected TV consumption. One was right and one was wrong” (Vinson). Contradicting opinions don’t bode well for a company’s appearance. On top of that, the impact of the pandemic prevented Nielsen from being able to access the homes of their data pools. As a result, some of the major networks lost a lot of advertisement revenue including ViacomCBS and NBCUniversal, which was the first sign of trouble. It’s concerning to see these issues arise because it shows that the company is having a difficult time trying to monitor statistics from such a small data pool. Michael Vinson of Broadcasting+Cable argues that, “They are still relying on their unstable small panels as their starting point and not on the tens of millions of household actual observed viewing as Comscore does” (Vinson). This simply surprises me the most of all. This is such a limited sample size to determine an accurate depiction of people’s viewing habits in the present day. This system clearly would need to undergo significant change in order to adapt further for today’s world. Therefore, it seems challenging now for Nielsen to get themselves out of this mess.
With the frustration that has been caused by Nielsen, there are some networks who are testing out different methods to avoid any future blunders. NBCUniversal is among the first to experiment as they have a plan in place with iSpot.TV. Brad Adgate of Forbes writes that iSpot.TV “can measure audiences for streaming video as well as linear and time shifted television on a second-by-second basis and in “real-time” (Adgate). iSpot.TV appears to be a viable option for networks to turn to now. This is so important because they appear to be handling the transition to streaming well as the country enters a new stage of media consumption. It is unclear to this point if streaming will become a majority option over television, but this is a possibility. Well-equipped competitors can now take advantage to make up for Nielsen’s failures, making this the more effective way to track media usage today.
Adgate, Brad. “Networks and Advertisers Are Looking to Replace Nielsen.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 21 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2022/01/20/networks-and-advertisers-are-looking-to-replace-nielsen/?sh=1dd621a0381b.
Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
Vinson, Dr. Michael. “Setting the Record Straight about Modern Media Measurement.” Broadcasting Cable, Broadcasting + Cable, 21 Oct. 2021, https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/setting-the-record-straight-about-modern-media-measurement?utm_campaign=US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_source=comscore_elq_US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS.
Shawn A. Baker Part 1 Acquiring ratings and learning about the demographics of media consumers is extremely important for any media company. What’s also important is making sure these ratings accurately reflect who the viewers are. So, with this in mind, I would so to some degree the Nielsen ratings still matter, but not as much as they used to. The reason I say this is because although the Nielsen ratings are not great, it’s kind of the only thing out there right now. The Nielsen ratings aren't the best for a number of reasons. First off, the Media Ratings Council got rid of it’s accreditation for Nielsen’s ratings, which is not a good sign. (Steinberg). In it’s rating process, Nielsen only observes 100,000 people between 40,000 households, and although they get very in-depth data from this small pool of subjects, it’s not nearly reflective enough of the 121 million households with TV services in the United States. (Watson). Not only that, but Nielsen has been accused of underreporting young adults and being unable to accurately track viewership on other devices besides TVs, as well as undercutting TV audience usage and numbers during the pandemic. (Watson). With such a small percentage of TV Viewers being observed, and accusations that make Nielsen feel untrustworthy and unreliable, the Nielsen ratings aren’t looking like the best way to gain data on viewership, but there’s also not much of a choice. Outside the Nielsen ratings (which has been used for decades), what is out there isn’t great either. Big data sets that do against mostly revolve around looking at billing information and online behavior, nothing about demographic profiles (who is watching). (Poppie). This isn’t exactly what the media industry wants to look at. These data sets also work better for households that have been longer established, which in the case of the U.S., is wealthy, older, white households. Nielsen suffers from this too, but it is important to note it’s not just them. (Poppie). Nielsen does seem to be acknowledging all this and trying to improve, like using robust panels that get deeper into the demographics of the viewers, but for now there’s no question they are behind. With all the streaming services and people being able to watch TV on their phones or iPads and other devices, and more and more content being consumed everyday (especially with the pandemic), Nielsen and other data sets need to adjust quickly with the times (Steinberg). It kind of seems like they’ve been too comfortable with how they’ve runned things for so long, and now that media consumption is completely different, they just haven’t been able to adjust to something new. If Nielsen wants to improve (and other big data sets in general), a big step would be sourcing out more than 40,000 households, and making sure those households are diverse in race, ages, gender, family units, etc. Also, fully utilizing streaming data and national surveys are a great way to get deeper into the demographic profiles of viewers. All that said, I do think the Nielsen ratings still matter, mostly because there’s no real good alternative to them, yet. They do need to improve though to get more accurate data so they can matter more to media industries.
Shawn A. Baker Part 2 Poppie, Molly. “The Not-so-Hidden Problem with Big Data Sets.” Broadcasting Cable, Broadcasting+Cable, 19 Oct. 2021, https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/the-not-so-hidden-problem-with-big-data-sets.
Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/.
Watson, Richard. “Nielsen's TV Ratings Are in Limbo. It's Time to Tune in to More Accurate Viewer Data.” Civis Analytics, Civis Analytics, 22 Nov. 2021, https://www.civisanalytics.com/blog/nielsens-tv-ratings-are-in-limbo-its-time-to-tune-in-to-more-accurate-viewer-data/.
Ben Labadia - Part 1
ReplyDeleteNielsen ratings have been around for ages. The company has always been backed by the Media Rating Council, “an industry organization that sets measurement standards,” and has worked to get information to advertisers so that they can make money on their television ads (Steinberg). However, with the rise in streaming services, and the hit of the pandemic changing media consumer habits, Nielsen’s credibility is being challenged. Streamers, television networks, and advertisers pay Nielsen around $637 million a year to gain access to their data on consumer behaviors, so that they can find who and when to target ads to (Steinberg).
Nielsen claims to be using strong, representative measurements of household viewing habits by using a “small panel system” in which they track around 40,000 individual households, putting in a device that detects everything coming in through the router, to see who is watching what, and when (Battaglio). Streamers and their parent companies, however, are upset over Nielsen’s findings during the pandemic, which showed that ratings went down. This, the Nielsen CEO attributes to a rise in streaming, YouTube, and podcasts, all of which are not measured by Nielsen (Battaglio). Therefore, these big companies are choosing to go their own way to determine ratings.
Thus, while Nielsen’s ratings still matter for live TV, as consumers and companies move to prefer streaming and online media, their ratings will matter much less. A larger tracking company, such as ComScore, claims to represent consumers better than Nielsen by looking at streaming channels on a larger scale, finding that TV consuming actually did increase in 2020 during the pandemic (Vinson). They collect data from 35 million households over 70 million devices, rather than the 40,000 households tracked by Nielsen. Due to the larger sample size, their ratings are far more likely to be representative to the general population, including Black and LatinX communities, as well as lower income households. The Nielsen tracked households tend to be older, whiter, and more affluent (Vinson).
The alternative ways that companies are choosing to track and target ads are quite inventive. Rather than doing ads for the public, some companies are choosing to be more focused, allowing different ads to be shown in different households, making ads more like on social media but with the high quality of TV, and by adding cheaper options with a smaller outreach to smaller companies (Lee et al.). WarnerMedia aims to create its own tracking service that can count subscriber activity on both television and streaming, as they own both, including HBO Max, which many people have struggled to understand the subscriber amounts of (Steinberg). The only drawback to this is advertisers are worried paying for a service to track data that they are trying to sell to is counterproductive.
Tracking of streaming services can be done, as shown in a 2019 study from Princeton University. The study tracked smart TV devices, such as the Amazon Firestick and Roku. The researchers created a system that downloaded channels (streaming apps) and watched programs from them to intercept data on who was watching them. The data included their device, the show, their location, and Apple ID. Many streamers also revealed the titles of the programs these people were watching without encryption (Moghaddam et al.). The only red flag raised here is that the Roku is very vulnerable to tracking and accessing data on consumers, so if consumers want to retain privacy, they need to think about the data streaming services might be collecting.
DeleteOverall, while consumers need to be careful of how much they are being tracked, companies deserve to separate from an outdated system controlled by Nielsen, as we move into the future of streamers and more consumer-directed advertisements.
Works Cited
Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
Lee, Paul, et al. “Addressable TV ADS: Targeting for Reach.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 4 Jan. 2022, https://deloitte.wsj.com/articles/addressable-tv-ads-targeting-for-reach-01641310928.
Moghaddam, Hooman Mohajeri, et al. “Watching You Watch: The Tracking Ecosystem of over-the-Top TV Streaming Devices.” Freedom to Tinker, 18 Sept. 2019, https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2019/09/18/watching-you-watch-the-tracking-ecosystem-of-over-the-top-tv-streaming-devices/.
Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/.
Steinberg, Brian. “Nielsen Plans Overhaul for Commercial Ratings, Will Track Viewers for Specific Ads.” Variety, Variety, 22 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Vinson, Dr. Michael. “Setting the Record Straight about Modern Media Measurement.” Broadcasting Cable, Broadcasting+Cable, 21 Oct. 2021, https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/setting-the-record-straight-about-modern-media-measurement?utm_campaign=US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS&utm_medium=email&utm_source=comscore_elq_US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS.
Robert Lyon 1/3
ReplyDeleteNielson ratings have been used since the 1950’s to measure what and who in the average U.S. household is watching. You heard it right 1950’s, its 2022! Media consumption today isn’t strictly done on one household television set in the living room. People are watching their favorite shows, sporting events and more so than ever binge-watching complete seasons of their favorite shows in a matter of days. Has Nielson accounted for those households that binge watch complete seasons in a matter of days? Companies got very nervous in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic when television watching dropped even when people were spending so much time at home (Battaglio). I think that Nielson’s antiquated ways of measuring the data by installing devices in the homes of consumers needs to change. How can measuring just a small, select sample of homes really be an accurate picture? Just because I have ABC or CBS on doesn’t mean I am watching those shows, maybe I fell asleep, so why should that count? I can understand why the major networks were upset when families were staying home and watching less television. It’s not Nielson they should blame, but the popularity of streaming services.
Robert Lyon 2/3
ReplyDeleteIt seems that consumers are moving faster than the Neilson company can keep up. This may be an opportunity for new data analytic companies to get in the ratings game. If the major networks invest in their own in-house rating departments, they would be able to focus on the consumers that tune into their station and their specific streaming platform, just a thought. Every day there is a new streaming service, enticing viewers with lower rates and new cutting-edge content. Perhaps Nielson should not rely on picking one show on the streaming platforms to track but instead track how (devices) their viewers consume and what content they prefer. With the announcement of Nielson ONE measurement system, maybe they are headed into the twenty-first century (Hsu). With the fear that more households will be cutting their cable service providers companies like Nielson should be prepared to shift as well.
Ratings are something, at least in my opinion, don’t really matter to me. I will watch the content I enjoy watching. I think ratings companies should shift to measuring content. With so many streaming services, it really comes down to content. If original content about a professional athlete on Hulu doesn’t bring in viewership, then Hulu should re-evaluate their audience. The winners in the ratings race will be those streaming services who partner with the right tech companies that provide them with cutting edge analytics. Adapting to the new way viewers consume media will be important for streaming services as well as Nielson.
Robert Lyon 3/3
ReplyDeleteReferences
Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
Hsu, Tiffany. “Now TV Wants Nielsen to Measure Up.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 Nov. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/business/media/nbcuniversal-nielsen-tv-alternatives.html.
Kirst, Seamus. “What Are Nielsen Ratings and How Are They Calculated?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 18 Dec. 2015, https://www.forbes.com/sites/seamuskirst/2015/12/18/what-are-nielsen-ratings-and-how-are-they-calculated/?sh=24231f0656e0.
Steinberg, Brian. “Nielsen Plans Overhaul for Commercial Ratings, Will Track Viewers for Specific Ads.” Variety, Variety, 22 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Wanberg, Laura. “Are Nielsen TV Ratings Still Practical? Tell-Tale TV.” Tell, 29 June 2021, https://telltaletv.com/2021/06/are-nielsen-tv-ratings-still-practical/.
Gage Kilborne 1
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Nielsen ratings don't matter as much as they used to because the United States has seen a growing number of households cutting the cord. A big example of Nielsen not mattering as much as it used to was during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic because many people were stuck in their homes and were trying to find some forms of entertainment but they didn't go to their cable boxes, they instead went to streaming services(Battaglio). I was one of those people who used my Netflix account more than I used my cable box because the news was all negative about the virus meanwhile streaming services provided me with a positive place to get away from all the negativity in the world. With the amount of households that went to streaming services, Nielsen ratings were not prepared to put those into their statistics and because of that, many consumers were not too pleased with what the company did as a result(Battaglio).
Another big problem that Nielsen TV ratings is finding is how out of date they are, they are still basing their analysis based on methods that have been using since the 1950's(Vinson). Now usually keeping things how they were from 70 years ago means that there is a strong history there, however in the television market that is not true. In TV there is a saying that gets used constantly, "Out with the old, in with the new", as a way to keep providing the audience with new content(Vinson). If television kept dumping out the same content for the past 70 years, the audience will get bored of it and they will just turn off the TV but if they provide new and exciting content, the audience will stay engaged with the product. The problem with Nielsen is that because they have been using the same methods to receive data from the 1950s, the data is not as reliable in today's society since people are changing from cable to streaming services, this is why Nielsen ratings don't matter as much as they used to.
Gage Kilborne 2
DeleteFollowing Nielsen's struggles from recent years to provide accurate TV ratings, another rating service wants to enter the mix. Comscore established ConsumerView as a way to provide more accurate statistics for consumers and what they are viewing in their homes(Poppie). ConsumerView is going to provide with more in-depth anaylsis on the topic such as demographics of the viewers ranging from race to economic class to help provide the advertisers with more statistics to use in order to gear advertisements more towards a certain targeted audience(Poppie). This is probably going to be a more accurate study than Nielsen because Nielsen is more based on computer data than based on the demographics of who is watching what which will allow more accurate data for the advertisers.
With all of this being said, I am one who never really put much thought into the Nielsen Ratings because I never really focused on films in too much detail. However, after looking at this, I realized that Nielsen has been struggling with providing accurate ratings in recent years which in turn saw the movie companies were loosing money in the box office and on television because people were going off of the Nielsen ratings instead of their own opinions.
Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
Poppie, Molly. “The Not-so-Hidden Problem with Big Data Sets.” Broadcasting Cable, Broadcasting+Cable, 19 Oct. 2021, https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/the-not-so-hidden-problem-with-big-data-sets.
Vinson, Dr. Michael. “Setting the Record Straight about Modern Media Measurement.” Broadcasting Cable, Broadcasting+Cable, 21 Oct. 2021, https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/setting-the-record-straight-about-modern-media-measurement?utm_campaign=US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_source=comscore_elq_US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS.
Nielsen has been the main data company that tracks TV viewership’s since the 1950’s. The company focuses on viewership counts which then provides TV networks with how to set their advertisement rates. (Steinberg) But as the world and media is changing, as well as the hit of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nielsen has struggled to keep up with the times as media services, like streaming have come into many US homes, and people are now watching less TV. Nielsen install their own measurement equipment into homes of agreed viewers to track local and national TV ratings. (Battaglio) Because of the change in habits to media consumption, Nielson has been unable to properly track viewership, resulting in a major loss of millions. (Battaglio) Nielson has been able to reliably give advertisers audience viewership for decades, and yes, they have been too slow to merge with new media like streaming services and YouTube, they have the money and the history to be able to grow into today’s age. Nielsen have been working on new technologies that they plan to debut in 2022. (Steinberg) Nielsen needs to focus on expanding their technology to ensure they are still one of the top viewership companies. Networks like NBC and CBS are considering other companies, as well as even producing their own technologies to track their data. As Nielsen focuses on TV, they still matter to households that only watch TV without streaming services, which is 50% of homes with Nielsen’s panel. (Battaglio) David Kenny, Chief Executive of Nielson, believes all of the panels will have streaming, which will make the Nielsen ratings matter less because of the unreliability of people watching TV and other video media. Companies like Netflix allow audiences to have ad free shows and movie while other services like Hulu, HBO Max and Peacock have fewer ads, basing their specific ads on their location and buying habits. (Steinberg) An issue that also surrounds Nielsen is the small group of people Nielsen track. Their data tracks mostly white, more affluent and significantly older part of the US. (Poppie) So saying this, having little data from Black or Brown people, as well as people from lower income gives a less accurate data score. (Poppie) Nielson have confirmed its new metric, ‘The Gauge’ in June 2021, which is the new technology used to track viewership on streaming platforms. (Koblin) This software as of June 2021 was in 38 thousand homes in the US and only counts television views, not phones or laptops. (Koblin) Netflix were initially unimpressed by Nielsen’s way to track viewership but are starting to change their minds with the introduction of the Gauge, with Co-Chief Executive of Netflix Reed Hastings, stating how Nielsen are in a ‘good place with the changing US television landscape.’ With the growth of Nielsen being slower than the audiences shifts, companies are looking elsewhere to track their viewership. Companies like NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia are considering new ways to track their viewership. NBCUniversal is using another service called iSpot.tv. which is set to track audiences from TV and streaming services. (Battaglio) Companies are also trying to come up with their own programs to track viewership, like WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS. Overall, Nielsen are in trouble with the world changing their way of watching media and Nielsen have been too slow to change. Nielsen are now producing software to track other media, but the question now is, with relationships they used to have with streaming services, along with relationships they have now with TV networks, is Nielsen something from the past and is it time for something new?
ReplyDeleteJordon Bennett Part 1
DeleteRita Sherban
ReplyDeleteShows like Seinfeld and M*A*S*H boasted high Nielsen ratings for their series finales. Television executives used to live and die by the ratings Nielsen gave them, but this reliability from a company that made its name during the height of linear television has dwindled. The company must learn to reinvent itself and its methodology or else it will be forced to the wayside. Technology companies, like ComScore, are eager to replace Nielsen and become the new, trusted media metrics company for the streaming era. However, Nielsen is not ready to leave without a fight.
Nielsen has boasted that their metrics are trusted and reliable, although this claim has been disproven by competitors such as ComScore. According to ComScore, “Nielsen has not been able to incorporate large-scale data in their own methodology in a credible way. They continue to rely on small panels with single-digit response rates that ignore most of the population.” Meanwhile, Nielsen says that their robust panels provide the most accurate information as it is coming from real consumers (Poppie). Nielsen measures viewership on ad breaks, but commercial breaks mean something else in the age of streaming (Steinberg). Advertisements are now tailored to a person’s consuming habits, and it is hard to measure ratings when consumers are exposed to a myriad of different ads based on their buying behavior (Steinberg). Nielsen is far from perfect when it comes to metrics, but the same is true for ComScore. ComScore relies on set-top data boxes, the company boasts that they are getting real metrics from real consumers, but there are downfalls to the new metric measurement. ComScore decided that set-top boxes were the best method for ratings, but it tends to skew the data as, “set-top box data…tends to overcount more affluent consumers…and thus disproportionately excludes lower-income consumers” (Poppie). Without proper demographics, it’s harder for advertisers to make informed decisions about where they should place their ads and who is going to be engaging in them.
Sherban (cont.)
ReplyDeleteDespite downfalls from both media metric companies, the use of ratings is becoming obsolete. In a New York Times article, published in November of last year, companies like NBCUniversal and Warner Media have expressed their doubts about Nielsen. David Zaslav, chief executive of Discovery said, “I don’t have a lot of hope for Nielsen…we’re just going to have to work our way out of it…and leave them in the dust” (Hsu). Television executives have been saying that their shows garner more viewership than Nielsen is reflecting (Hsu). Without the proper adjustments needed to measure modern shows, advertising will fail, and new shows will barely make it past the first season.
Nielsen must learn to adapt quickly to maintain its reputation as a leading media metrics company, while ComScore must fine-tune its set-top box data so that it is representative of a more diverse United States. However, television executives should not put all their faith in these companies like they have in the past as it may be inaccurate.
To combat poor analytics for ComScore and Nielsen, streaming services should be more in tune with viewer engagement. Shows like Euphoria have been doing exceptionally well, not only through the model of one episode a week like traditional television but through social media like Twitter and TikTok. Word-of-mouth is still a very powerful tool that television companies should be more aware of.
Hsu, T. (2021, November 12). Now TV wants Nielsen to measure up. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/business/media/nbcuniversal-Nielsen -tv-alternatives.html
Poppie, M. (2021, October 19). The not-so-hidden problem with big data sets. Broadcasting Cable. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/the-not-so-hidden-problem-with-big-data-sets
Steinberg, B. (2021, November 22). Nielsen plans overhaul for commercial ratings, will track viewers for specific ads. Variety. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/Nielsen -tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7
Jordon Bennett Part 2
ReplyDelete“TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
“TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/.
Steinberg, Brian. “Nielsen Plans Overhaul for Commercial Ratings, Will Track Viewers for Specific Ads.” Variety, Variety, 22 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Koblin, John. “Nielsen Now Knows When You Are Streaming.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 June 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/business/media/nielsen-streaming-metrics-netflix-youtube.html.
Blake Guerriero
ReplyDeleteNielson ratings have been present for many decades, as our options regarding T.V., and entertaining has evolved and expanded the need for Nielson ratings may not matter as much as they once had. Nielson ratings have been the scorekeeper for the T.V, business as these networks rely on its audience measurement data as they compete for $65 billion spent annually on advertising. In Stephen Battaglio’s article “TV networks are mad at Nielson. Can that company still count in the streaming age?” he states, “Tensions rose to a new level after networks saw television viewing drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most Americans spent much of 2020 indoors” (Battaglio). This surprised me as you would think given the pandemic all people would do is watch T.V. but then I came to the realization that the reasoning of this is due to the rise in popularity of streaming services. I believe the Nielson ratings need a change in the way they calculate viewing habits, not every recorded viewing habit in a household could even be considered accurate. Someone can just leave the T.V. on when nobody is around, or someone could just be viewing a specific channel out of boredom but have no real interest in what is being shown.
The way the Nielson tracking system is conducted is simply out of date as it has been around since the 1950s and has not kept up with the constant evolving industry that we know today. In Brian Steinberg’s article “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielson Measurement Alternative in 2022” he states, “The owner of popular media outlets like HBO, CNN and TNT intends to offer its own audience-measurement data next year” (Steinberg). It is no secret Nielson’s tracking method is out of date and other competition are taking notice of that. The owner of WarnerMedia stated “We are doing this because we believe that there has got to be a better alternative in measurement solutions, and we have a responsibility to our investments, to our clients and partners, and to counting the value of our audience — full stop,” said Zapata” (Steinberg). They are standing up and taking the plunge into something Nielson has not done and that is evolve with the time.
In another Brian Steinberg article titled “Nielson Plans overhaul for commercial ratings, will track viewers for specific ads” it is stated that “Currently, buyers and sellers transact on ‘C3’, which provides the average of all commercial minutes within a program,” says Kim Gilberti, senior vice president of product management at Nielsen, responding to questions via email. “As we move to a world where linear television is becoming more addressable, it’s important to be able to post on the individual ads that were served. Nielsen’s technology advancement gives us the ability to detect and credit tuning events at this lower level of granularity” (Steinberg). It’s clear Neilson is acknowledging the problems and that changes need to be made.
DeleteThe alternative ways as previously mentioned that media usage can be better tracked is through better technologies that better fit todays evolving industry as well as developing a way to track streaming platforms as well. Companies like WarnerMedia are creating their own tracking service that can focus on both T.V. and streaming services regarding its customers and their habits. Overall, I feel that Nielson does not matter, at least in the way they are conducting their ratings system, this isn’t the 1950’s, other technologies and competitors are showing up left and right and Nielson’s old school methods simply are not accurate nor advanced enough to be efficient in today’s world.
Works Cited
Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/.
Steinberg, B. (2021, November 22). Nielsen plans overhaul for commercial ratings, will track viewers for specific ads. Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/
Cat Weber
ReplyDeleteNielsens purpose is to provide information to television networks about the engagement on their advertisements on their network. Linear television is being slowly replaced by other options leaving Nielsen behind in the race to collect accurate viewer data. Linear television is being replaced by streaming services. It is noted that “streaming now accounts for 37% of viewing for adults under age 55” (Battaglio). Collecting viewer data for streaming services can be difficult to put together but that is where a majority of people are viewing their content. It is vital for networks or services to know who is using their platforms and watching their content if they want to curate advertisements towards these viewers. Nielsen ratings is not out of the running when it comes to diving into this type of data collection. It is not the fault of a rating service that the service being rated is now at competition with other viewing services. Nielsen is in a position to avoid becoming obsolete if they are able to work with streaming services and other platforms to collect accurate viewer data. The viewer has moved somewhere other than their linear tv options to watch shows and movies, Nielsen should follow. Asking if Nielsen ratings still matter is difficult because the ratings themself matter but it can be done by other companies which is being seen with NBCUniversal, ViaComCBS, and WarnerMedia. These media companies are looking for new ways to measure their audiences (Steinberg). It seems that they might create their own rating system and department or use different media companies like Comscore.
Cat Part 2
DeleteYouTube will work with Nielsen and WarnerMedia has said that Nielsen “can earn a place in our future” (Steinberg).
Without a doubt the ratings matter and are necessary to provide that curated ad experience for the viewer that all these services want. The way of viewing content is changing and the measuring of data needs to change with it. Measuring linear television as well as streaming is going to be the best attempt to track media usage. There are usually multiple devices in one household where viewing can take place. Working with the internet connection and what services are being used in certain households along with expanding their surveying pool to include different demogrpahics. With MCR revoked accreditation for Nielsen, alternative strategies are being created to accommodate the changing media industry. Working with streaming services and tracking more than just linear TV data will help Nielsen compete in this new growing ratings industry. Nielsen has a test called Nielsen One Alpha, that will focus on advertising measurement across linear TV, connected TV, mobile and computers (Adgate). Nielsen can stay in the running in the rating ndustry if they keep up with the changing viewing platforms of digital content.
Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/.
Adgate, Brad. “Networks and Advertisers Are Looking to Replace Nielsen.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 21 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2022/01/20/networks-and-advertisers-are-looking-to-replace-nielsen/?sh=21ef2e51381b.
Samantha Kaplan Part 1
ReplyDeleteTraditionally, Nielsen ratings have been the standard method for media companies to track the number of viewers watching their television shows. However, the way people watch television has changed dramatically in recent years calling Nielsen’s methodology into question. Nielsen bases their ratings on 40,000 families' television watching habits. There are a couple of problems with this rating system. One issue is that Nielsen only measures views based on shows that were watched, broadcasted, or streamed on an actual television. This means that the views are not counted for any shows that were viewed on a laptop, tablet, or phone (Hsu, 2021). Another major problem is that Nielsen uses statistical sampling, meaning that all of their data is based on the 40,000 homes they track each year. While Nielsen claims that their data pool is diverse, there is no way of knowing that for sure. The fact of the matter is, a small data pool leads to inaccurate results.
The pandemic has been a major reason that media companies have started to seek alternatives to Nielsen ratings. Networks noticed that their views were dropping on the Nielsen ratings during the pandemic. This is because Nielsen was unable to keep collecting the data from 40,000 families as they had in the past (Battaglio, 2021). This resulted in networks losing millions of dollars in ad revenue. I believe that the need for a new rating system is far overdue. Nielsen became inaccurate the minute people started streaming shows on their phones, tablets, and laptops.
One of the companies that is trying out a new rating system is NBCUniversal. They are going to use iSpot.tv’s services for the Olympics and the Superbowl and then compare the results to the data collected from Nielsen for the same events. NBCUniversal is still partnered with Nielsen, but they have just added iSpot.tv in hopes of getting more accurate results (Battaglio, 2022). Either way, if iSpot.tv is able to provide more reliable data, Nielsen is most definitely in trouble.
iSpot.tv is able to track views anywhere, on any device in all households by tracking ads using proprietary fingerprinting technology (Lafayette, 2017). This means that iSpot.tv has a much larger and much more accurate data pool compared to Nielsen. Overall, iSpot.tv’s data-tracking technology is a better alternative to Nielsen ratings.
The best way to accurately track media usage is to collect data from as large and diverse a pool as possible, across all devices that television can be viewed on. As of now, iSpot.tv is the most accurate service when it comes to meeting those criteria. However, in a couple of years, there may be another service that is able to track ratings even better. Nielsen ratings are becoming more obsolete as these better alternatives are being developed. If they do not make serious improvements to their rating system, Nielsen could be irrelevant very soon.
Samantha Kaplan Part 2
ReplyDeleteWork Cited:
Battaglio, S. (2022, January 13). NBCUniversal selects audience measurement alternative to Nielsen. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2022-01-13/nbcuniversal-selects-audience-measurement-alternative-to-nielsen?utm_id=46862&sfmc_id=4782528
Battaglio, S. (2021, December 13). TV networks are mad at nielsen. can that company still count in the streaming age? Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny
Hsu, T. (2021, November 12). Now TV wants Nielsen to measure up. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/business/media/nbcuniversal-nielsen-tv-alternatives.html
Lafayette, J. (2017, April 19). ISpot.tv adds attribution to TV ad measurement. Broadcasting Cable. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.nexttv.com/news/ispottv-adds-attribution-tv-ad-measurement-165010
Derek Goldrick -
ReplyDeleteAs technology advances and streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix and Peacock continue to grow, audiences are becoming less likely to stream in a linear fashion. The Nielson commercial ratings were adopted in 2007 and allowed for media companies to use these ratings to measure the viewership of ad breaks on TV. However, this was all before the streaming services we know today really took off. Nowadays, with most audiences viewing ads individually rather than linearly, companies are struggling to refer back to the Nielson ratings that were their foundation for so long as they just no longer apply.
“Broadband video hubs like Hulu, Tubi, HBO Max and Peacock typically use fewer ads per hour, and often send specific ads to users based on their location and buying habits. In other words, the notion of a single viewer sitting through the same commercial break as every other person watching a particular video selection has quickly become relegated to the past.” (Steinberg).
Although Nielsen has updated their technology and states they are able to track the audiences for individual ads, media companies are now on the lookout for new and improved companies. Media companies such as NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, WarnerMedia and Univision have all signed with rival vendors to help create new ways to measure audiences who are increasingly watching their TV favorites at times of their own choosing, usually via broadband technology.
Other ways Nielson are updating their ability to track their independent viewers are by signing with technology companies such as Extreme Reach that specialize in placing digital watermarks along ads in linear TV. However, media companies combat that by making deals based on viewing of commercial breaks up to three days after their first airing called “C3”.
Overall, the use of the Nielson rating system for media companies is out the door and no longer a necessity as it once was. With the way people stream and the popularity of streaming services continuing to climb each year, media companies and their technology must adapt.
Nielsen Plans Overhaul for Commercial Ratings, Will Track Viewers for Specific Ads Brian Steinberg Variety November 22, 2021 https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7
Delete“TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/.
Robert Fritz
ReplyDeleteThe Nielsen ratings have been the traditional form of gauging the publics interest in TV shows but as the world and technology evolve so does the way people look at TV. The Nielsen ratings are based off 40,000 families watching habits and that is only for shows on TV and not anything that can be streamed on another device in the house like a phone or a laptop. Nielsen ratings matter for the major networks as they rely on the Nielsen ratings for their advertisement sales but for the public, I do not know how closely people pay attention to them and if that would even influence their decision in watching a certain show or program. In an article written by Stephen Battaglio NBCUniversal will now start using alternative means to measure their program in conjunction with the Nielsen ratings. iSpot.tv will help NBCUniversal gain better understanding of their ratings as they’ll not only be able to track their tv ratings like Nielsen but also the ratings on streaming platforms. As the world changes and the consumption habits of the people change it is now on these media companies and corporations to catch up with the times. According to a Variety news article by Brian Steinberg this may already be happening “Both Nielsen and the networks can agree on one thing: The migration of TV viewers from the traditional experience of watching shows in linear fashion to new digital behaviors is taking place faster than anyone can track. That’s forcing the entire industry to take on the unenviable task of fixing an airplane after it has already taken flight.” These changes are happening faster than anyone could’ve have predicted, and some might say a part of that is due to the pandemic. The pandemic shut a lot of stuff down so new content and shows were hard to find in the beginning so people relied on streaming services to go back and watch shows that they knew the liked and were easily accessible at any time. The days of waiting around for a certain time on a certain day to watch a show is starting to become a thing of the past. The Nielsen ratings are a tricky thing as it comes down to who it actually matters to. Obviously, Nielsen still believe it matters “Nielsen remains the currency of choice for media companies, advertisers and agencies,” the company said in a statement to Variety (Zorrilla). The better or alternative ways to track these types of things is just by broadening the scope and going past just 40,000 families homes and going past just what is on the TV. There is a lot of shows and programs to consume in a multitude of ways and to narrow it down to one and base it off of one rating is foolish.
Battaglio , Stephen. “NBCUniversal Selects Audience Measurement Alternative to Nielsen.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2022-01-13/nbcuniversal-selects-audience-measurement-alternative-to-nielsen?utm_id=46862&%3Bsfmc_id=4782528.
Steinberg, Brian. “Nielsen Plans Overhaul for Commercial Ratings, Will Track Viewers for Specific Ads.” Variety, Variety, 22 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nielsen-tv-commercial-ratings-overhaul-viewers-streaming-1235116960/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Zorrilla, Monica Marie. “What Metrics Matter Most? TV Industry Grapples with Ratings Shortcomings in Fast-Growing Content Landscape.” Variety, Variety, 17 Sept. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/features/ratings-audience-measurement-metrics-networks-svod-1235060272/.
Nielsen has played a major role in measuring audience ratings for television, dating back as far as the 1950s. It’s been an important piece of how the major cable networks have operated on a day-to-day basis. Stephen Battaglio of the LA Times reports that the company “relies on 40,000 homes nationwide that agree to have measurement equipment installed in their households to track their viewing habits” (Battaglio). Now that it’s 70 years later, it feels like the system is starting to become more irrelevant in a modern and fresh media landscape. I personally believe that these ratings should be scrapped because there are so many different options to consume media now. As soon as the decline in traditional media began, so did Nielsen due to its issues in adapting for the current digital age.
ReplyDeleteAs the country enters the streaming era, it’s getting more challenging to completely trust the legitimacy of the Nielsen system and its data that media companies have relied on so heavily. This was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when, “Nielsen concluded that TV viewing declined during the pandemic, whereas Comscore found the opposite: a substantial increase in TV and connected TV consumption. One was right and one was wrong” (Vinson). Contradicting opinions don’t bode well for a company’s appearance. On top of that, the impact of the pandemic prevented Nielsen from being able to access the homes of their data pools. As a result, some of the major networks lost a lot of advertisement revenue including ViacomCBS and NBCUniversal, which was the first sign of trouble. It’s concerning to see these issues arise because it shows that the company is having a difficult time trying to monitor statistics from such a small data pool. Michael Vinson of Broadcasting+Cable argues that, “They are still relying on their unstable small panels as their starting point and not on the tens of millions of household actual observed viewing as Comscore does” (Vinson). This simply surprises me the most of all. This is such a limited sample size to determine an accurate depiction of people’s viewing habits in the present day. This system clearly would need to undergo significant change in order to adapt further for today’s world. Therefore, it seems challenging now for Nielsen to get themselves out of this mess.
Benjamin Upson (continued from above)
ReplyDeleteWith the frustration that has been caused by Nielsen, there are some networks who are testing out different methods to avoid any future blunders. NBCUniversal is among the first to experiment as they have a plan in place with iSpot.TV. Brad Adgate of Forbes writes that iSpot.TV “can measure audiences for streaming video as well as linear and time shifted television on a second-by-second basis and in “real-time” (Adgate). iSpot.TV appears to be a viable option for networks to turn to now. This is so important because they appear to be handling the transition to streaming well as the country enters a new stage of media consumption. It is unclear to this point if streaming will become a majority option over television, but this is a possibility. Well-equipped competitors can now take advantage to make up for Nielsen’s failures, making this the more effective way to track media usage today.
Adgate, Brad. “Networks and Advertisers Are Looking to Replace Nielsen.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 21 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2022/01/20/networks-and-advertisers-are-looking-to-replace-nielsen/?sh=1dd621a0381b.
Battaglio, Stephen. “TV Networks Are Mad at Nielsen. Can That Company Still Count in the Streaming Age?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-12-13/nielsen-tv-ratings-streaming-nbc-david-kenny.
Vinson, Dr. Michael. “Setting the Record Straight about Modern Media Measurement.” Broadcasting Cable, Broadcasting + Cable, 21 Oct. 2021, https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/setting-the-record-straight-about-modern-media-measurement?utm_campaign=US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_source=comscore_elq_US_US_NOV2021_NL_TV_PROSPECTS.
Shawn A. Baker Part 1
ReplyDeleteAcquiring ratings and learning about the demographics of media consumers is extremely important for any media company. What’s also important is making sure these ratings accurately reflect who the viewers are. So, with this in mind, I would so to some degree the Nielsen ratings still matter, but not as much as they used to. The reason I say this is because although the Nielsen ratings are not great, it’s kind of the only thing out there right now.
The Nielsen ratings aren't the best for a number of reasons. First off, the Media Ratings Council got rid of it’s accreditation for Nielsen’s ratings, which is not a good sign. (Steinberg). In it’s rating process, Nielsen only observes 100,000 people between 40,000 households, and although they get very in-depth data from this small pool of subjects, it’s not nearly reflective enough of the 121 million households with TV services in the United States. (Watson). Not only that, but Nielsen has been accused of underreporting young adults and being unable to accurately track viewership on other devices besides TVs, as well as undercutting TV audience usage and numbers during the pandemic. (Watson). With such a small percentage of TV Viewers being observed, and accusations that make Nielsen feel untrustworthy and unreliable, the Nielsen ratings aren’t looking like the best way to gain data on viewership, but there’s also not much of a choice.
Outside the Nielsen ratings (which has been used for decades), what is out there isn’t great either. Big data sets that do against mostly revolve around looking at billing information and online behavior, nothing about demographic profiles (who is watching). (Poppie). This isn’t exactly what the media industry wants to look at. These data sets also work better for households that have been longer established, which in the case of the U.S., is wealthy, older, white households. Nielsen suffers from this too, but it is important to note it’s not just them. (Poppie). Nielsen does seem to be acknowledging all this and trying to improve, like using robust panels that get deeper into the demographics of the viewers, but for now there’s no question they are behind. With all the streaming services and people being able to watch TV on their phones or iPads and other devices, and more and more content being consumed everyday (especially with the pandemic), Nielsen and other data sets need to adjust quickly with the times (Steinberg). It kind of seems like they’ve been too comfortable with how they’ve runned things for so long, and now that media consumption is completely different, they just haven’t been able to adjust to something new. If Nielsen wants to improve (and other big data sets in general), a big step would be sourcing out more than 40,000 households, and making sure those households are diverse in race, ages, gender, family units, etc. Also, fully utilizing streaming data and national surveys are a great way to get deeper into the demographic profiles of viewers.
All that said, I do think the Nielsen ratings still matter, mostly because there’s no real good alternative to them, yet. They do need to improve though to get more accurate data so they can matter more to media industries.
Shawn A. Baker Part 2
DeletePoppie, Molly. “The Not-so-Hidden Problem with Big Data Sets.” Broadcasting Cable, Broadcasting+Cable, 19 Oct. 2021, https://www.nexttv.com/blogs/the-not-so-hidden-problem-with-big-data-sets.
Steinberg, Brian. “WarnerMedia Plans to Launch Nielsen Measurement Alternative in 2022.” Variety, Variety, 19 Nov. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/warnermedia-nielsen-audience-measurement-alternative-1235115445/.
Watson, Richard. “Nielsen's TV Ratings Are in Limbo. It's Time to Tune in to More Accurate Viewer Data.” Civis Analytics, Civis Analytics, 22 Nov. 2021, https://www.civisanalytics.com/blog/nielsens-tv-ratings-are-in-limbo-its-time-to-tune-in-to-more-accurate-viewer-data/.