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Nielsen to begin tracking Amazon Prime viewership

By Jacob Zinkula

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 13: (Top L-R) Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie Usher, Karen Fukuhara, Chace Crawford, (Bottom L-R) Jack Quaid, Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Laz Alonso of the television show 'The Boys' speak during the Amazon Prime Video Session of the 2019 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on February 13, 2019 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 13: (Top L-R) Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie Usher, Karen Fukuhara, Chace Crawford, (Bottom L-R) Jack Quaid, Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Laz Alonso of the television show 'The Boys' speak during the Amazon Prime Video Session of the 2019 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on February 13, 2019 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) /
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Nielsen is beginning to track Amazon Prime viewership. This data can provide valuable insight into the streaming competition, but how does it work?

Well-known data and measurement firm Nielsen is arguably best known for its measurement of cable television ratings. But with cord-cutting trends moving viewership increasingly towards streaming platforms, the company has had to start adapting the way it does business.

Until two years ago, Netflix was able to keep its viewership information a secret, occasionally releasing favorable numbers that could not be fact-checked. In 2017, however, Nielsen launched a Subscription Video on Demand Content Ratings solution. Although initially focused on Netflix viewership, the expectation was that Amazon Prime Video would begin getting covered in 2018. Although a year late, Nielsen announced its Prime Video measurement solution is now up and running.

The company’s subscription ratings solution isn’t perfect, however, as it can only measure streams both 1) originating in the United States and 2) being viewed via a television. This has led to some criticism from Netflix, as Nielsen’s ratings exclude streams originating from mobile devices and computers.

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There has been some evidence, however, that Nielsen’s rating numbers with regards to Netflix haven’t actually been that far off. This seems to be because most streaming comes through televisions (what Nielsen tracks). Per Hulu in 2018, roughly 78% of its viewing comes through a TV, and it’s not unreasonable to expect a similar percentage from Netflix and Prime Video as well.

Nielsen’s viewership data isn’t just useful for judging the “streaming wars” race, it’s apparently valuable for content producers that at times get limited information from Netflix. The same value will be provided to Prime Video content producers.

As part of rolling out its Prime Video coverage, Nielsen provided a view examples of data. Per the company, Amazon’s The Boys averaged 4.1 million viewers per episode, with its pilot averaging roughly 6 million. The largest share of the show’s viewers (39%) were aged 35 to 49. Additionally, the show reached ~8 million viewers within the first ten days.

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As other streaming services like Disney, Apple, WarnerMedia and NBC get set to unveil their platforms, it’s unclear what viewership information will be available and willingly provided. However, it seems that subscriber numbers, arguably the most important measure of a platform’s overall success, will be provided by EVERY streaming competitor.

Source: Deadline

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