It was last April when the VAB questioned Nielsen’s ability to accurately measure audiences during the pandemic. This eventually led to Nielsen’s accreditation being suspended by the MRC and opened the floodgates to a number of potential audience measurement rivals. One year later, these ad measurement clashes show no sign of slowing down, with patent infringement lawsuits, disputes on the accuracy of cross platform audiences and agreements with programmers and Nielsen rivals for pilot studies continuing.
Earlier this month, Nielsen filed a patent infringement lawsuit against TVSquared. Nielsen claimed that TVSquared’s privacy compliant cross platform audience measurement method encroached on their patent. One week prior to Nielsen’s lawsuit, TVSquared was acquired by Innovid for $160 million. The acquisition is expected to enhance their cross-platform measurement capabilities. In addition, TVSquared had responded to NBCU’s RFP as the advertising industry seeks potential alternatives to Nielsen.
In the lawsuit, Nielsen is seeking to recover (treble) damages, including lost profits and attorney’s fees. In a statement Nielsen claimed in part, “In the world of media measurement, Nielsen’s commitment to consumer privacy has been unmatched. Nielsen has always designed its products and services with privacy at the core.” TVSquared responded in part, “We are still reviewing the recently filed complaint, but plan to vigorously contest any allegation that we infringe any Nielsen patent.”
This is not the first time Nielsen has sued a potential rival in measuring TV/video audiences. Last November, Nielsen filed two separate lawsuits for patent infringements against HyphaMetrics and TVision. Both companies are potential Nielsen alternatives and were a part of NBCUs “Framework for New Measurement” report released earlier this year. Both companies were categorized (along with Nielsen) by NBCU in the “persons-based TV panel” group.
HyphaMetrics was launched in 2020 by former executives at Comscore and GroupM. HyphaMetrics uses a panel of 5,000 homes to measure person-level cross platform audiences. Nielsen claims HyphaMetrics had infringed upon their panel-based measurement technique. TVision began in 2014 and measures TV ad exposures by individual viewers. Nielsen claims TVision’s methodology infringed on two of their “eyes on the screen” technology patents. TVision claimed the lawsuit has no merit.
Nielsen suing a rival audience measurement provider is nothing new. In 2017 Nielsen sought an injunction with Comscore and their plans to use Nielsen’s Portable People Meter for their Extended TV service, a potential alternative to Nielsen. The origins of the lawsuit dated back to 2013 when Nielsen acquired Arbitron (and its PPM technology). To ensure competition for cross platform measurement, government regulators required Nielsen to allow Comscore continued access to PPM data. Nielsen argued Extended TV was a standalone (not cross-platform) offering. The lawsuit was settled the following year. Also, back in 2011 the two measurement companies had litigated over five Nielsen patents which was also settled.
On another “front”, earlier this month VAB members had asked Nielsen to stop releasing results from their new monthly impact ratings reports using “big data” from smart TVs, set-top boxes, etc. This is part of Nielsen’s new cross platform measurement initiative dubbed Nielsen One, scheduled to be fully operational in 2024. Nielsen also continues to provide ratings from their legacy panel of 41,000 National People Meter households. The goal was to allow advertisers to evaluate and negotiate from either set of audience data for the upcoming upfront negotiations. The VAB cited confusion with Nielsen releasing two separate ratings reports. More worrisome, the VAB claimed the ratings from Nielsen One were inconsistent.
In addition, programmers are continuing to partner with Nielsen alternatives in evaluating their capabilities. These include conducting pilot studies. Earlier today, iSpot.TV announced they will be conducting a pilot study with Crown Media Family Networks. Crown Media is parent company to The Hallmark Channel and their sister cable networks. Previously, NBCU and WarnerMedia made similar agreements with iSpot.TV. Hallmark Channel is one of a handful of cable networks that has been thriving in this era of cord-cutting and streaming video. Using Nielsen data, in 2021, Hallmark Channel averaged 1.12 million prime time viewers ranking fifth among all cable networks. In 2015 the Hallmark Channel had averaged 910,000 primetime viewers ranking 22nd overall.
In the past, Nielsen had faced potential competitors one at a time such as AGB in 1987 or ScanAmerica in 1991. Nielsen was able to easily fend off these “lone” challengers. This time, as witnessed by NBCU receiving over 100 responses with their RFP and easier access to “big data”, there are now a number of potential measurement alternatives. This is making it more challenging for Nielsen to maintain their position as the primary negotiating currency for the $60-$70 billion TV/video ad market. As these disputes and partnerships begin a second year, based on this month’s activities, there is no slowdown in sight.
