NIELSEN UNDERCOUNTED RATINGS IN THE US DURING THE PANDEMIC

Nielsen was undercounting viewers during the pandemic, according to an audit released by the Media Rating Council. The findings follow TV networks' expression of fears that their ratings were possibly being artificially deflated. “While today’s MRC findings contradict months of Nielsen’s repeated public denials of any problems with their COVID data processes and results, those months of stalling by Nielsen have slowed the process of deep discovery into the full extent of their COVID data defects that is owed to the entire TV marketplace,” CEO Sean Cunningham said on Monday.

The MRC said on Monday that it believes total usage of television by adults 18-49, the main target for considered for ad costs, was underestimated by 2-6% in February, the month the MRC used to conduct the audit. Additionally, the MRC believes that people consuming TV among that same age group decreased by 1-5%. “The impacts to estimates will vary among different demographic groups and dayparts, and percentage differences, when applied to program estimates, can be misleading because of the small size of the absolute ratings of many programs, which can distort change percentages,” the MRC said.

Any miscounting may be worth millions of dollars in advertising. VAB estimates suggest that a 1% undercounting of audiences in February may represent $39 million in ad dollars, while a 6% undercounting could represent $234 million. The projections point to as much as $468 million to $2.8 billion. Cunningham added that the networks believe Nielsen’s counts included more “zero-viewing TV homes” than normal and that Nielsen was grappling with “a 20% loss of the panel” during the pandemic. “We believe this initial confirmation of undercounted COVID TV metrics is merely the beginning of what will come evermore to light as the MRC’s processes progress into a full audit of Nielsen’s COVID-period TV data, which needs to be an audit of unprecedented scale and scope,” Cunningham said.

TV experts have expressed concerns over Nielsen's decision to stop sending field agents to Nielsen homes amid the pandemic.  Other concerns include the researcher's use of households that have moved elsewhere and including other households where no TV consumption is occuring. A lack of technological maintenance could've also led to the misleading figures. Nielsen recently revealed its current efforts to fix maitnenance  in approximately 2,700 homes that serve in its panel of consumers, which would likely take place throughout the month of May.