Nielsen's television viewership counts are faltering amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The verdict that Nielsen's television viewership was underreported came from The Media Rating Council, an organization that monitors media research standards, which found a "consistent pattern of underreporting of viewing" in February, as reported by Variety.
After news broke of Nielsen's under-reporting in February, Nielsen told clients, "As a result of some of the COVID measures we implemented, we found that there was some understatement of audience estimates. The variance differed by daypart, demographic and program."
Specifically, The MRC found that viewers between ages 18-49 were underreported in February by a margin of 2%-6%. Nielsen's underreporting of television viewership causes a headache for television networks who rely on these numbers to negotiate with advertisers over air time -- when to air and to what demographics -- resulting in the potential loss of billions of dollars.
CEO of the VAB Sean Cunningham stated there's "a heck of a lot of money" at stake -- VAB is a trade group that represents television networks to Madison Avenue. Broken down by the VAB trade group, 1% of undercounting viewership numbers in February could cost a television network $39 million in ad money. If the undercounting was as large as 6% off within the 18-49 age group, then that would potentially cost television networks $234 million in ad money.
VAB also stated that these metrics have been reportedly questioned for months by television networks, saying it took "unprecedented pushing" for the measurement company to acknowledge its incorrect metrics after discrepancies came to light. "At first blush, [Nielsen] has contradicted now what they have been sticking to for months."
A Nielsen spokesperson has reached out to CBR to explain what happened from the company's viewpoint. "As requested by the MRC, Nielsen has implemented a thorough analysis of the estimated impact of changes in consumer viewing behaviors and its panel maintenance protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will continue to work with the MRC on other analyses in the future. Throughout the pandemic, Nielsen has been fully transparent in collaborating with the MRC and focused on procedural changes to support its panelists, people, and the integrity of currency metrics used by the industry.
"On Monday, the company shared its findings with the MRC. As a result of some of the COVID measures we implemented, we found that there was some understatement of audience estimates. The variance differed by daypart, demographic and program. At a high level, the February 2021 simulation analysis showed: 2-6% change on Total Usage of Television (TUT) ratings and a 1-4% change on Persons Using Television (PUT) ratings. 93% of C3 P18-49 rating changes for major networks saw no more than a 0.02 change in rating points.
"Since early March 2021, Nielsen has aggressively returned to pre-COVID maintenance procedures and will continue to rigorously work with the MRC and its clients to understand the impacts of both the pandemic and changing consumer viewing behaviors on data and analysis."
COVID-19 has been a major factor in affecting Nielsen's consistent measurement of television viewers. During the pandemic, Nielsen stopped sending field agents to individual Nielsen homes -- limiting the maintenance it can do to the reported 2,700 homes that need it and its ability to verify if homes are still in use. One major concern brought up by television networks amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is the concern that households have since moved, rendering the data the measurement company is getting inaccurate and a waste of resources.
Source: Variety
This story was updated May 11 at 3:50 PM EST with a statement from Nielsen.