Nielsen Won’t Use Amazon ‘Thursday Night Football’ Viewership Data (At Least For Now)

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Nielsen is putting a new media yardstick out of arm’s reach, for the time being. Nielsen backed off a plan to incorporate first-party data from Amazon in its study of the audience for the company’s streamcast of “Thursday Night Football.” a move that was opposed by TV networks, putting to rest — at least for the moment — the idea that the measurement giant might utilize inputs from the companies it examines in its national viewership methodology. “Our aim is to ensure the process with which we introduce new ways of measuring audiences is inclusive of client feedback and held to the highest standards,” Nielsen said in a statement Thursday. “For now, Nielsen’s panel-only National TV service will remain the currency of record.

First-party data will be included in Big Data in National measurement figures, which are available to all customers separately.” The company had planned to incorporate Amazon’s “TNF” data and its methodology for working with it even went before the Media Ratings Council, an independent body backed by the media and advertising industries that examines companies that provide audience-measurement service last week.

But the TV networks savaged the idea and requested that Nielsen hold off on the notion. Amazon and Nielsen have been discussing such an alliance since earlier this year, after the two sides clashed over two different accountings of streams of last season’s “Thursday Night Football.” Nielsen’s tabulation, long based primarily on the reactions it gleans from viewer panels, discovered an audience that was 18% smaller than the one Amazon found using its understanding of how many devices were streaming its Thursday night feed.