There’s been a new development in the ongoing dispute between viewership measurement company Nielsen and Paramount Global, the parent company of the CBS broadcast network.
According to a recent report in TheWrap, Nielsen has pulled Paramount’s data from their Media Information Tape, “a service provided to advertising agencies that acts as a one-stop shop to view ratings and check them against their ad buys to determine if they hit their targets.”
Presumably, this will make it more difficult for ad buyers to verify whether purchases with Paramount properties have met their minimum requirements. However, Nielsen continues to track Paramount data internally.
“All of our clients continue to have a full view of the marketplace, as Nielsen continues to measure Paramount networks and streaming services. However, we have removed Paramount data from transactional files,” a Nielsen spokesperson told TheWrap. “We have made this data available in good faith over the past three months, even without Paramount as a client.”
The decision seems to be a tactic by Nielsen to coerce Paramount into renewing its agreement with the viewership measurement company. Since Paramount’s contract expired in October, the company has been using VideoAmp to measure its audiences, though the alternative viewership data company is not accredited by the Media Ratings Council.
“To be clear, Nielsen will be in possession of the relevant data but will be suppressing your access to that data,” Paramount Advertising president John Halley told TheWrap. “This decision was made by Nielsen and will affect the value and utility of your Nielsen data and tool licenses.”
At its core, this seems to be Nielsen worsening the quality of life for advertising agencies in the hopes that they’ll pressure Paramount into a renewal. Nielsen is still measuring Paramount’s audiences, and it seems that advertising clients will still have access to that data given that Nielsen says they will still have “a full view of the marketplace.” But that data won’t be as convenient to access and use as it was before when it comes to client accounts.
Nielsen has long been the currency by which networks can sell advertising inventory to marketers, and making Paramount’s data less accessible could have a direct impact on the number of advertisers willing to purchase ads from the company.
But based on Paramount’s rhetoric, they seem dug in, unwilling to capitulate to what they see as a lack of value from Nielsen’s offerings.
“This really is not about affordability. It’s about getting the value we need for what we pay,” Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks told investors during a Q3 earnings call. “We haven’t seen any adverse impact on ad revenue to date and we don’t expect a material impact in Q4. But I do want to be clear that we do recognize that Nielsen can be a valuable resource. It’s just that the economics have to make sense for the business.”
[TheWrap]
