Overview

• Beginning this week, all official press claims shift to Nielsen’s accredited Big Data + Panel, which merges a ~42,000‑home panel with set‑top and smart‑TV data from about 45 million homes and 75 million devices.
• Final, certified audiences will typically post two to three days after broadcasts, replacing the long‑standing next‑day norm, with networks allowed to cite clearly labeled preliminary figures sooner.
• NFL executives say Nielsen is undercounting by millions, citing disputed co‑viewing multipliers for tentpole games and the absence of first‑party streaming inputs from several rights holders.
• The NFL continues to use Nielsen as the trading currency but is testing alternatives such as VideoAmp, even as Nielsen retains Media Rating Council accreditation and data deals with Amazon, Netflix and YouTube.
• Sports audiences are expected to rise under the new system, with industry estimates in the 5%–10% range and Amazon’s Thursday Night Football previously showing an 8% uplift under big‑data counting.