TV Needs to Measure Audiences, but Won’t Have Nielsen or Comscore Accreditation for Upfront’s Start

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe TV industry is getting ready for its annual “upfront” market, when billions of dollars in advertising trade hands.

And almost everything is in place — except a firm backing of the economics that guide all the deals.Both Nielsen and its rival, Comscore, are unlikely to win accreditation of their national TV ratings services in time for the upfront, which typically kicks off in May and lasts through much of the summer.

Nielsen, the longtime arbiter of how many people watch TV (and the commercials that support it), lost its industry backing in September after acknowledging under pressure from the networks that it had likely undercounted audiences during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Since that time, the company has run into new headwinds, and recently blocked a possible sale to a group of private-equity firms.