Nielsen and Paramount Global are counting on each other once again.
The two companies have struck a new deal that will reinstate access to the measurement giant’s audience ratings for the media conglomerate’s CBS, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, among other properties. The pact ends a months-long feud during which Paramount utilized other audience tabulations in a bid to point out Nielsen’s perceived shortcomings. During that period of time, Paramount was unable to use Nielsen’s audience data and could not make public pronouncements about how shows such as “60 Minutes,” “The NFL on CBS” or “The Daily Show” performed against rivals based on Nielsen’s services.
The two sides have settled their dispute with just weeks to go before the start of the industry’s annual “upfront” sales session, when TV networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory in advance of their next cycle of programming. Nielsen said last week it intended to introduce a broader set of consumer data that would be used as the underpinning of new deals.
“We are thrilled to resume our partnership with Paramount, as their leaders continue to build one of the strongest brands in entertainment,” said Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s CEO, in a statement. “As Paramount continues its evolution into a next-generation media company, we’re 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.”
Such optimistic tones have been absent from conversations between the two companies since late September, when Paramount claimed Nielsen’s fees were too high in an era when TV audiences have fragmented across dozens of screens and different kinds of viewing behaviors. In December, Paramount and Nielsen squabbled over a decision by Nielsen to make analysis of the ratings performance of CBS and other properties more difficult for advertisers and media buyers to analyze. Meanwhile, Paramount has relied on VideoAmp, one of a handful of rival upstarts that have made inroads with TV networks in recent years.
As smartphones, mobile tablets and broadband-connected TVs gain more consumer acceptance, audiences are increasingly able to stream their TV favorites in on-demand fashion, making the task of counting them exponentially more difficult. TV networks have long based their advertising rates on Nielsen’s measure of linear TV audiences, which have slipped as consumers embraced Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming and on-demand options.
At the same time, Paramount has been under extreme pressure to cut costs. The company is about to be acquired by Skydance Media, and its current management team has already begun working to trim $500 million from its operating structure. Skydance Media has articulated a plan under which it would reduce costs by another $1.5 billion.
“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,” said George Cheeks, co-CEO of Paramount.
Nielsen has worked to make improvements to its technology after the networks made many complaints. In 2021, Nielsen lost backing for its national ratings service for months following claims of underreporting audiences amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The company was recently approved to provide new audience measures that rely on its panel as well as the interactions of viewers with smart TVs and other modern devices, and those findings are likely to form the basis for the next round of upfront deals. In November, Nielsen won approval for the use of first-party live streaming data from the media companies whose viewership it tabulates, a move that both Amazon and the National Football League backed aggressively. The two are partners in “Thursday Night Football,” a streaming-only sportscast.
