Facing pressure from clients, Nielsen says it is changing how it measures television ratings

62% of U.S. households now have a streaming TV device which is creating a challenge for traditional rating companies such as Nielsen.

Simple math. More households w/ streaming TV = more fragmentation in viewership between digital and linear TV =increasing difficulty in measuring total viewership

Quote from Bob Greenblatt — Chairman @ NBC Entertainment.“I don’t think the broadcasting narrative should be linear versus digital anymore, but rather linear plus digital,”… “I would love to get to a point where the live, same-day rating was the proverbial dinosaur instead of the broadcast network.”

Estimated impact on ratings when non-live (35 days) of viewing is added:
1) CBS Average — ↑ 53%
2) The Big Bang Theory — ↑ 66%
3) Bull — ↑ 57%

Why is this so important? Advertisers pay networks based on the estimated rating when their ad ran. If the rating is being under-counted by 50%+, then the network is missing out on a large chunk of revenue.

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