It may be an excuse, or even wishful thinking, but network executives are reportedly blaming Nielsen for at least part of television’s industry-wide ratings slide.
Television executives believe that Nielsen may have undercounted viewership by as much as ten percent last year due to COVID-related changes in how it measures audiences, and Nielsen “has acknowledged” that it has not been able to measure viewing “as closely as it might under normal circumstances,” according to Variety.
According to multiple reports by Variety this week, Nielsen is believed to have stopped sending field agents into participating families’ homes, keeping it from “ensuring technology was functioning properly.” It is also believed to have stopped replacing homes in its panel in which people no longer resided. As a result, “the number of houses that showed no TV watching or streaming” are said to have “increased exponentially” over the past year.
The CEO of trade organization VAB told Variety that there had been a “compound loss of panelists month by month … a loss of critical mass.”
Nielsen has denied responsibility for the declining ratings and is chalking up the the industry-wide slump to the impact of COVID-related restrictions on live and scripted content production. Nielsen: “In aggregate, the combination of more repeats, delayed premieres, programs produced in homes (and basements) and the lack of sports heightened the challenges for the TV industry.”
The company acknowledged in a statement to Variety that its sample size declined due to COVID, but said that “it remains robust and representative.”
While the collapse in sports ratings has generated significant headlines over the past year, it is worth noting that ratings are down across the television industry — even in cable news, which for months was an exception due to the presidential election. There was no indication that the decline in sports viewing is driving the network’s concerns.
