Nielsen To Launch New Viewership Measurement System; How It Affects Wrestling Ratings

After WWE's momentous media rights deals with Netflix and ESPN, many people have questions about how to go about finding information about viewership statistics and metrics. Nowadays, it is hard to get clarity on which shows, movies, and live sports are performing well on all these different streaming platforms due to their secrecy around their numbers. 

Now, it appears Nielson is figuring out a way to assign ratings to different streaming content, starting with live sports, that will help the public and media executives determine viewership across platforms. Brian Fuhrer, the Senior Vice President of Nielson, gave a quote to Front Office Sports about moving forward with a more modern ratings system and that there may be a lag with the new reports.

"There's going to be a bit of a lag, but I think everybody has really leaned in and said, ok, this is still going to be worthwhile. Everybody's on board with the new structure. It's about using the right number at the right time."

Dave Meltzer gave some more information into Neilson's new venture in The Observer, reporting that Nielsen is launching its new "Big Data + Panel" measurement this week, starting with the NFL and other major sports. Spearheaded by the NFL, it addresses under-counting that left streaming viewership out of ratings, sometimes by 5–20%. Nielsen is currently collecting data from Amazon Prime, Netflix, and YouTube, with talks underway for ESPN+, Tubi, Peacock, and Paramount.

While not all platforms or sports are covered yet, this shift could raise reported numbers, boost ad rates and create the perception of growth compared to last year. However, sports like pro wrestling, which have lower live-viewing percentages, may see less impact. Meltzer corroborates that reports will take longer to process than traditional ratings.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Front Office Sports" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.