Nielsen Also Lowballed Local TV Ratings During Covid-19, Audit Finds

Review follows earlier confirmation of national audience pandemic undercount

A month after Nielsen confirmed that it had undercounted national television audiences by up to 6% during the Covid-19 pandemic, a third-party auditing firm has found that similar pandemic defects affected local television audience metrics.

The Media Rating Council, the nonprofit organization that audits Nielsen ratings, conducted an analysis of local television ratings across Nielsen’s 56 local metered markets and found “an overall understatement of reported viewing estimates” both in terms of overall household viewing data and in the 25-54 age demographic, it reported Tuesday.

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