SAG-AFTRA Teams Up with Nielsen for Streaming Viewership Data
By Movieguide® Contributor
In efforts to improve streaming data, SAG-AFTRA and Nielsen have joined hands.
“The actors guild has partnered with Nielsen to act as its third-party provider of streaming content measurement,” Deadline said. “The move will give actors more data as they explore which streaming series will be due for bonuses under the new model.”
SAG-AFTRA will integrate Nielsen’s Streaming Content Ratings service to balance its data.
The Los Angeles Times notes the deal comes months after the strike’s end, which concluded with agreements between the organization and major Hollywood studios. One of the agreements is that the streaming companies involved give SAG-AFTRA viewership data.
“New business models require new tools, and that’s why we’ve enlisted Nielsen,” SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said. “The information they provide will give us the means to cross-check the data streamers give us and ensure employers are fulfilling their contractual obligations to our members.”
“The rapid evolution of the media landscape and audience behaviors over the past decade has not only affected how content is consumed and measured, but also greatly impacts the financial models on which the entertainment industry operates,” said Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao. “We are incredibly proud that SAG-AFTRA has chosen Nielsen as the source for objective and consistent audience measurement insights in the streaming space.”
The Hollywood Reporter observed that many TV companies have recently partnered with measurement businesses like Nielsen. Comsocre, iSpot, EDO and VideoAmp are a few of them.
Movieguide® recently reported on some Nielsen streaming data:
YouTube is not traditionally thought of as being in the same category as Netflix, but a Nielsen report revealed the video platform was the streamer with the most TV usage this January, its twelfth straight month as the No. 1 streaming service.
In January 2024, streaming accounted for 36% of all TV usage, per Nielsen. Within that 36%, 8.6% of all TV usage was spent on YouTube, while 7.9% was spent on Netflix. January marked a full year of this trend, with other streaming services nowhere near these top two.
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