Networks Ask Nielsen to Delay 'Big Data' Until After Upfront

The networks are once again publicly taking Nielsen to task for what they allege is flawed data from the measurement company. This time, the Video Advertising Bureau is asking the Nielsen to delay its new “big data” monthly impact releases—set-top box and smart television viewership metrics that complement its in-house panel data for national TV measurement—until after this year’s upfront, calling the current data “unusable.” In a letter to Nielsen CEO David Kenny on behalf of the VAB Board leadership, VAB CEO Sean Cunningham told Nielsen to hold off on releasing any additional data that could be used to estimate the price or value of advertising inventory ahead of this year’s upfront negotiations. Cunningham wrote that the first month of data, which covered September 2021 but was not released until Feb. 23, is “rife with illogical audience patterns and contradictions, that render it currently unusable.” He also criticized the company for a lack of “meaningful” disclosures about how the data was calculated. Last September, Nielsen said it had begun to track and collect set-top box and smart television viewership data to complement its in-house panel data. It said impact data gleaned from that added big data—which comes from companies like Dish, DirecTV, Vizio and Roku—would become available to Nielsen clients in January, allowing the industry to become familiarized with seasonality trends and other changes that may be present in the augmented data set. Nielsen’s TV Measurement Woes Continue As It Admits OOH Undercounting Since 2020 At the time, Nielsen said a full switch to the enhanced data, which will coalesce in-house panel data with those big data sources, was slated for September 2022. But the VAB wants Nielsen to halt the monthly release, and also said it believes Nielsen is required to disclose to the TV ad marketplace how the data was created and how to compare the data sets, before Nielsen’s Big Data national TV measurement set can be considered “legitimate” for eventual use in TV currency data. In his letter, Cunningham said analysis found “illogical” demographic audience shifts when comparing big data with the current panel, including “significant” audience gains in total audience and adults 18-49, but also major declines in adults 25-54. There were also double-digit increases or decreases among male and female viewership in many dayparts and genres “that defy any logical pattern or explanation.” “Given the compounded Big Data deficiencies (mostly unusable data plus unacceptably low levels of explanations/disclosures/verification), complicated by the current timing (Upfront planning season), Nielsen’s release of a second data set (Big Data atop National Panel) that is intended as eventual currency data has to be halted immediately by Nielsen in order to fix this broken-on-arrival data set,” wrote Cunningham. The VAB asks that Nielsen stop issuing the monthly big data releases until all of its concerns have been addressed. “The VAB had high hopes for Big Data being a big leap forward in what Nielsen’s measurement and currency can bring to marketers, but after in-depth analysis it’s clear to us that this first data set is rife with serious problems,” Cunningham said in a statement. “Taking the time to right the wrongs now is in the TV buy/sell marketplace’s best interests and gives Nielsen time to fulfill their promise of coming to market with a more accurate solution. VAB’s Measurement Innovation Task Force is ready to work with Nielsen on the issues we’ve raised, to help put them on a better course to better measurement.” Update: Nielsen responded to the VAB's letter Tuesday night with the following statement: "We are deeply disappointed that these concerns would be raised in the press rather than in direct discussion and collaboration with us. We have been in regular contact with our clients, including hosting client webinars and numerous individual client meetings to review the methodology used to create the audience estimates and the recent release of impact data. We have been, and remain committed to working with our clients to convey a deep understanding of this comprehensive offering. Up until this letter was issued, we have not received questions from the VAB. Additionally, a trade group associated with traditional TV channels is an incomplete and biased subset of the video marketplace. We prefer to work openly with the entire industry to get to the best measurement solution. "Furthermore, based on feedback across buyers and sellers we made the decision to allow either data set to be used for trading in the fall. We have addressed client concerns around the proximity of impact data to upfronts and our approach will enable buyers and sellers to trade against big data plus panel metrics if they so choose, while giving our clients runway to adapt to this launch." Seeking measurement alternatives This is the latest in a long public battle between the networks and Nielsen over the past year, which led to the Media Rating Council stripped Nielsen’s national and local TV ratings services of their accreditation in September. Nielsen admitted in December that it had undercounted out-of-home audiences for national TV programming since September 2020, blaming a software issue for the error. As a result of these stumbles, several other media companies are working on measurement alternatives to Nielsen, and hope to begin transacting on those new currencies in the upfront. WarnerMedia is working with Comscore, iSpot.tv and VideoAmp as it tests alternative methods of measuring TV ad performance across platforms. Paramount (formerly ViacomCBS) and Dentsu have partnered on VideoAmp data trials. NBCUniversal set iSpot.tv as its first certified measurement partner, teaming up Q1 currency tests across its One Platform ad offering, including the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl. Discovery has teamed with Omnicom Media Group on a pilot, using measurement data from Comscore and VideoAmp. Last week, Disney became the latest media company testing alternative currencies, and said it was partnering with Samba TV, Comscore and the new Nielsen One metric on measurement trials with Omnicom Media Group and Publicis Media.

Measurement

Networks Ask Nielsen to Delay 'Big Data' Releases Until After Upfronts

The VAB calls the new set-top box and smart TV data ‘illogical’ and ‘unusable’

Jason Lynch

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Jason Lynch