Nielsen, the unofficial king of U.S. TV measurement, is at risk of losing its throne. Sellers in the advertising industry have lost faith in Nielsen’s data, which is supposed to provide a universal currency for pricing ads. Since 2021, networks including NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, WarnerMedia and Univision have been exploring alternatives. And on Aug. 9, news broke that the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) and Association of National Advertisers (ANA), membership organizations that serve marketers, are in talks to develop their own Nielsen-size viewership panel.
Nielsen swung back on Aug. 10, touting its national panel of 42,000 households and disclosing for the first time that its streaming meter panel now reaches 21,000 households.