Paramount Global and Nielsen have struck a new multiyear ratings measurement partnership, resolving a four-month standoff after the two companies’ previous contract expired on Oct. 1.
The new deal includes measurement for all Paramount platforms, including national and local broadcast, all cable networks, and streaming on Paramount+ and Pluto TV. Paramount has also agreed to license Nielsen services including advance audiences, big data + panel measurement, ad-supported streaming platform ratings, Nielsen ONE ads for connected television and its national out-of-home expansion to inform advertising, programming and licensing strategies.
“We are thrilled to resume our partnership with Paramount, as their leaders continue to build one of the strongest brands in entertainment,” Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao said in a statement. “Our trusted data shows how Paramount’s content and advertising strategy is thriving across every platform, across all ages and demos. As Paramount continues its evolution into a next-generation media company, we are proud to play a critical role and know this deal will be a win for everyone: Nielsen, Paramount and all of our joint advertising partners.”
Nielsen has dominated media measurement for the better part of a century, with advertisers depending on data like the Streaming Top 10 and The Gauge in order to help determine their spending on commercials as audiences shift from linear TV to streaming. But TV networks have long complained that the firm is not measuring audiences as well as it should amid that transition.
Paramount argued that Nielsen’s costs as a percentage of the company’s ad revenue have “quintupled” over significant parts of its business, and proposed fees exceed the total ad revenue of the network being measured in some instances.
Meanwhile, Nielsen said that Paramount was demanding a “nearly 50% reduction” in the price of its service, which “not only undervalues our substantial investments, but makes it unsustainable to provide the support and quality that all Nielsen clients rely upon.”
The agreement comes Nielsen’s big data + panel measurement was recently accredited by the Media Rating Council. The MRC also approved its integration of first-party live streaming data and renewed the accreditation for its traditional panel measurement.
It also comes as Paramount has seen a number of ratings milestones, including its Jan. 26 broadcast of the AFC Championship setting an all-time record with 57.7 million viewers. Its coverage of the 2024 NFL season including three of the top five games for the month of October, the highest rated game in November and two of the top five games in December. CBS dramas also topped 50 trillion viewing minutes in the fourth quarter of 2024, while Paramount+’s “Lioness,” “Tulsa King” and “Landman” all broke into Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10, with the latter title marking the streamer’s first title to break the 1 billion-minute mark.
“Paramount and Nielsen are committed to addressing Television’s multiplatform future to the benefit of all of our stakeholders. Karthik and his team continue to meet the needs of our marketplace across all our platforms, and we are incredibly pleased to reinforce and reinvigorate our deal with our longtime partner,” Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks added. “Paramount Global’s ratings wins reported today are just one of many successes we look forward to with Nielsen as we build upon this new future together.”
In the interim, VideoAmp served as Paramount’s ratings data partner. The two parties renewed that agreement in January, which will continue to provide Paramount with demographic and advanced audience measurement data for 40 million households.
