\n\tThe whole TV business is grappling with Gauge Rage.<\/p>\n
\n\tNielsen\u2019s recent decision to delay its popular \u201cGauge\u201d snapshot <\/a>of viewing across linear and digital platforms has incensed a trade group that represents the nation\u2019s TV networks to advertisers.<\/p>\n \n\tNielsen<\/a>\u00a0last week said it would delay the release of the February results of its popular tabulation\u00a0after some clients became alarmed by a downturn in streaming audiences<\/a>\u00a0following\u00a0a decision by the measurement giant to add new data to its mix.<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNielsen\u2019s announcements to delay their February Gauge report (with its anticipated spike in TV audience totals), and also revert Gauge\u2019s math to a method now proven to undercount all TV forms throughout the upfront season, are both indefensible manipulations that run completely counter to the role of a fair and neutral measurement and currency data provider,\u201d said Sean Cunningham<\/a>, CEO of the Video Advertising Bureau, a veteran trade group that acts as a proxy for the TV networks in dealings with Madison Avenue, in a prepared statement.<\/p>\n \n\tAt issue was\u00a0the implementation earlier this year of new data<\/a>\u00a0that shows how U.S. households connect to and consume TV, use video-capable digital devices, and interact with and share streaming media and ecommerce accounts. The research, known as DASH, is a syndicated study fielded in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, a polling firm. Nielsen had previously informed clients that its use of the data\u00a0could result in a one-time expansion of the number of households<\/a>, or \u201cuniverse,\u201d watching cable and broadcast TV, and a potential diminution of the overall audience watching streaming.<\/p>\n \n\tBut the uptick in linear viewing across cable and broadcast\u2013 spurred by February telecasts of the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics on NBC and Peacock \u2014 has alarmed many streamers, all of whom have seen their fortunes soar as they reel in scads of new broadband viewers. The behind-the-scenes push and pull over the Gauge<\/a> shows Nielsen having to cater to a new generation of customers \u2014 companies like Amazon, Roku and Netflix \u2014 that can be just as challenging as traditional clients like CBS, Fox and NBC.<\/p>\n \n\tNielsen suggested the VAB\u2019s furor might be misplaced. \u201cThe VAB membership includes Nielsen\u2019s competitors and a subset of the ad-supported video industry. So it\u2019s no surprise they are being misleading,\u201d Nielsen said in a statement. \u201cLet\u2019s be clear: the change the VAB is fighting for is\u00a0already\u00a0a part of Nielsen currency. We\u2019ve been using it in our TV ratings, which networks and advertisers buy and sell against, since February. The only methodology pause is happening to The Gauge, which is a free, monthly report. The ad industry at large does not use The Gauge to sell ads or guarantee ad buys. That is what our currency ratings are for.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn his statement Cunningham accused Nielsen of \u201cobvious manipulation and sector bias,\u201d because the decision holds back a look at robust performance by traditional TV in an era when streamers are steadily gaining audience.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cPurposely delaying and suppressing TV\u2019s February\u2019s audience totals \u2014 which include both a Super Bowl and a primal American-lead Olympics \u2014 is more than just public kowtowing to Google, or an escalation of Nielsen\u2019s thumb on the Gauge scale while cheerleading YouTube boom \/ TV gloom; this level of manipulation looks to me like obvious interference in markets,\u201d Cunningham said.<\/p>\n \n\tIn a letter to clients issued last week, Nielsen Chief Client Officer Peter Naylor said Nielsen would hold back on the Gauge in order to integrate \u201d methodology updates\u201d being made to its measuring technology.<\/p>\n