There has been a new development in the ongoing dispute between ratings company Nielsen and Paramount Global, the parent company of the CBS broadcast network.
According to a recent report from TheWrap, Nielsen extracted Paramount data from the media information tapes. “The service is available to advertising agencies and acts as a one-stop shop to display ratings, check them against ad purchases, and determine if they meet standards,” Target said. ”
Presumably, this will make it more difficult for advertising buyers to verify whether their purchases at Paramount properties meet the minimum requirements. However, Nielsen continues to track Paramount’s data internally.
“Nielsen continues to evaluate Paramount’s network and streaming services, so all of our clients continue to have complete market visibility. However, we have removed Paramount data from our transaction files,” a Nielsen spokesperson said. told TheWrap. “We have provided this data in good faith to Paramount for the past three months, even though we are not a client.”
The decision appears to be a tactic by Nielsen to force Paramount to renew its contract with the ratings company. Since its contract with Paramount expired in October, the company has been using VideoAmp to measure viewership, but the alternative viewing data company is not accredited by the Media Rating Council.
“To be clear, Nielsen will own the relevant data, but access to that data will be suppressed,” Paramount advertising president John Halley told TheWrap. “This decision was made by Nielsen and will impact the value and utility of licenses to Nielsen data and tools.”
Fundamentally, it appears Nielsen is worsening the quality of life for advertising agencies in hopes of forcing Paramount to renew. Nielsen still measures Paramount’s viewership, and advertising clients will continue to have access to that data, as Nielsen says it will continue to provide a “complete picture of the market.” However, when it comes to customer accounts, accessing and using that data will not be as convenient as before.
Nielsen has long been the currency for networks to sell ad inventory to marketers, and making it harder to access Paramount’s data would directly impact the number of advertisers willing to buy ads from the company. It is possible to give
But based on Paramount’s rhetoric, it appears they have no intention of giving in to their belief that Nielsen’s product is worthless.
“This is really not a question of affordability. It’s about getting value for what you pay for,” Paramount Global Co-CEO George Cheeks said in the third quarter. told investors at the company’s financial results conference. “To date, we have not seen any negative impact on advertising revenue and do not expect a material impact in the fourth quarter. However, we recognize that Nielsen can be a valuable resource. I want to be clear about what we’re doing. But economics has to make sense for business.”
(The Wrap)
