Overview
- Nielsen’s accredited system now blends its 42,000‑home panel with smart‑TV and set‑top data from about 45 million homes and 75 million devices across linear and streaming platforms.
- Networks can still share early figures labeled as preliminary, but finalized ratings for events such as NFL games will commonly post on a two‑to‑three‑day delay, with some Thursday games taking up to four days.
- Industry expectations point to measurable lifts for live sports, with reports citing 5%–10% gains and roughly 1 million additional viewers per NFL game; Amazon’s 2024 Thursday Night Football average rose 8% under the new approach.
- The NFL says Nielsen is undercounting millions of viewers, citing low co‑viewing multipliers for tentpole events and gaps in first‑party streaming inputs from major rights holders including ESPN, Fox, NBC and CBS.
- While the league says it strongly supports the upgrade, it is also testing alternatives such as VideoAmp as a complement or check, even as Nielsen remains the accredited marketplace standard used for ad deals.