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Some ‘TV measurement revolt’ — at least for now, Nielsen doesn’t seem to be going anywhere

Heading into this week’s Upfronts, many media companies and ad agencies have already re-upped their contracts with the embattled metrics company

Ahead of this week’s Upfronts, Nielsen’s belated and spectacularly ill-fated shift from legacy “panel” methodologies to Big Data has spawned what the Penske showbiz trades on Saturday called a “TV ratings revolt,” with broadcasters including FOX starting to noodle their own in-house ways and means to prove advertiser ROI beyond mere “impressions.”

Unveiled last week, the Fox Flash Impact Report includes drilled-down metrics on how individual commercials performed with audiences.

Meanwhile, E.W. Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson blamed his company’s first-quarter loss partly on Nielsen’s recent failures, framing the issue in the kind of politically powerful undertones that might impress even FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a master at such performative populist theater.

“Nielsen’s new methodology is inexplicably resulting in frustratingly inaccurate reports of ratings declines for over-the-air viewing and streaming,” Symson told investors. “This disproportionately impacts the measurement of our multicast network viewers who are most vulnerable to affordability issues, including those in rural communities, people of color and older Americans.”

So this is it, right? A decade after ComScore merged with Rentrak and signaled the first real competition for Nielsen Media Research in TV audience measurement, the seemingly slow-to-adapt incumbent is finally on the ropes?

As Nielsen’s clients often advise, don’t count on it!