Nielsen today locked in a comprehensive multi-year partnership with Gray Media that extends local television measurement across all 113 U.S. designated market areas where the broadcaster owns and operates stations. The agreement positions Nielsen to measure viewing across properties reaching approximately 37% of the U.S. television audience, representing one of the most extensive local TV measurement deals in the American broadcasting landscape.

The deal gains significance from Gray Media's portfolio composition. The broadcaster owns 13 broadcast sports networks and 44 Telemundo affiliates, creating substantial multicultural and sports measurement requirements that few companies can address at scale. Nielsen's measurement infrastructure specifically supports these demanding verticals through capabilities that include live sports streaming measurement and the largest multicultural panel in the United States.

Gray Media President and Co-CEO Pat LaPlatney addressed the partnership's strategic importance in the January 22 announcement. "We are happy to renew our relationship with Nielsen for our linear and OTT program streams," LaPlatney stated. "As our viewership evolves, it is important that our measurement partners continue to innovate as well."

Paul LeFort, Managing Director of Nielsen's Local TV Client Services, emphasized the technical requirements behind the agreement. "Only Nielsen has the scale, technology and industry trust of both media buyers and sellers to power Gray Media's growth strategies across their local TV and multicultural stations and broadcast sports networks," LeFort explained. "This collaboration will drive growth, positive business outcomes and the next era of innovation at the local TV level."

The partnership implements Nielsen's full suite of local audience marketing intelligence solutions. Gray Media will utilize Big Data + Panel measurement, which combines Nielsen's traditional panel methodology with device-level data. This approach represents a fundamental shift in how Nielsen measures television audiences, marking the end of stand-alone panel-based ratings that concluded in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Nielsen's Big Data + Panel methodology received Media Rating Council accreditation in January 2025. The system merges data from Nielsen's 42,000-home panel, representing more than 100,000 people, with inputs from approximately 45 million households and 75 million devices sourced from cable set-top boxes, satellite receivers, and smart TVs. The methodology became the standard currency for 2025 Upfront negotiations across the television advertising industry.

The agreement incorporates Nielsen's Ad Intel competitive advertising spending insights in select markets. This tool enables Gray Media to analyze competitor advertising strategies and spending patterns across multiple platforms. The inclusion suggests Gray Media plans to leverage competitive intelligence for sales strategies and advertiser pitches across its 113-market footprint.

Scarborough consumer insights form another component of the measurement package. This solution provides demographic, psychographic, and purchasing behavior data that local stations use for audience segmentation and advertiser targeting. For broadcasters operating across diverse markets ranging from major metropolitan areas to smaller designated market areas, Scarborough data enables customized advertising packages based on local consumer characteristics.

Gray Media will implement NLTV (National Local Television) measurement, which provides cross-market analysis capabilities. This functionality matters particularly for advertisers running campaigns across multiple Gray Media markets, enabling consolidated reporting and performance analysis that individual market measurements cannot deliver efficiently.

The partnership extends to streaming measurement, addressing Gray Media's over-the-top (OTT) program streams referenced by LaPlatney. Nielsen measures more than one trillion minutes of viewing across all streaming apps in a typical month, according to the company's data. This scale proves essential as local television stations increasingly distribute content through streaming platforms alongside traditional broadcast delivery.

Nielsen's sports measurement capabilities carry particular weight for this partnership. Gray Media operates 13 broadcast sports networks across its footprint, creating complex measurement requirements. Nielsen maintains measurement deals with every major professional sports league and represents the only company that can reliably measure live sports on streaming platforms, according to the announcement.

Sports measurement has grown increasingly complex as viewing fragments across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms. NFL content drove broadcast television to its highest share in nearly a year during October 2025, capturing 22.9% of total TV viewing time. Thursday Night Football's presence on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube streaming exclusive NFL games demonstrates the multi-platform distribution that requires sophisticated measurement approaches.

The multicultural measurement component addresses Gray Media's 44 Telemundo affiliates serving Spanish-language audiences. Nielsen's persons panel consists of more than 42,000 homes and 100,000 people across the United States, representing the largest multicultural measurement panel domestically, according to the company. This scale proves critical for accurately measuring Hispanic viewership patterns.

Hispanic consumers demonstrate distinct viewing behaviors, commanding 55.8% of TV time through streaming platforms - nearly 10 percentage points higher than the general U.S. population. Spanish-language television advertising has outperformed English-language counterparts by 31% in effectiveness metrics, according to research from measurement company EDO.

The measurement infrastructure supporting this partnership has evolved substantially throughout 2024 and 2025. Nielsen expanded its audience measurement deal with Paramount across platforms in February 2025, introducing Advanced Audiences, Big Data + Panel, Ad-Supported Streaming Platform Ratings, and Nielsen ONE Ads for Connected Television.

The company has pursued measurement automation through technology partnerships. Nielsen collaborated with XR (Extreme Reach) in December 2025 to automate measurement tag application to digital campaigns, reducing manual operational overhead. A similar partnership with Innovid created zero-touch workflows for cross-media ad measurement across linear television, connected TV, and digital platforms.

Nielsen's competitive positioning has strengthened through measurement enhancements beyond traditional ratings. The company launched its Outcomes Marketplace in July 2025, integrating brand, sales, attention, and conversion metrics within Nielsen ONE for the first time. Realeyes served as the inaugural measurement provider, with Adelaide subsequently integrating attention metrics with Nielsen's reach data in October 2025.

The Gray Media partnership announcement arrives amid continued transformation in television consumption patterns. Streaming platforms collectively reached 46.0% market share in June 2025, while broadcast television captured 20.5% and cable television held 27.2% of total viewing time, according to Nielsen's Gauge report. This fragmentation creates measurement complexity that benefits established providers with comprehensive cross-platform capabilities.

Local television measurement faces distinct challenges compared to national measurement. The 113 designated market areas covered under this Gray Media agreement each require separate measurement infrastructure, panel recruitment, and data processing. Nielsen's ability to deliver consistent methodology across all 113 markets - from major metropolitan areas like New York and Los Angeles to smaller markets - represents a substantial operational capability.

The timing coincides with shifts in local television economics. Local stations increasingly compete with national streaming platforms, social media, and digital publishers for advertising dollars. Comprehensive measurement that demonstrates audience delivery across broadcast, streaming, and digital platforms becomes essential for sales teams pitching advertisers who evaluate local TV against alternative channels.

Gray Media's extensive market footprint creates unique measurement requirements. The broadcaster operates stations across diverse geographic areas with varying demographic compositions, economic conditions, and media consumption patterns. Measurement solutions must account for this diversity while providing comparable metrics that enable cross-market analysis and national advertiser pitches.

Nielsen's measurement evolution extends beyond traditional audience metrics. The company integrated Connected TV coverage into its Ad Intel platform in Germany during August 2025, enabling cross-platform competitive intelligence tracking. This functionality allows media companies to monitor competitor advertising strategies across linear TV, streaming platforms, and digital channels simultaneously.

The partnership reflects Gray Media's investment in measurement capabilities that support multiple revenue streams. Local television broadcasters generate income through traditional spot advertising, retransmission fees from pay-TV distributors, digital advertising, and increasingly through streaming services. Each revenue stream requires different measurement approaches and metrics that justify pricing and demonstrate value to different stakeholder groups.

Nielsen's sports measurement capabilities extend beyond simple audience counting. The company provides minute-by-minute viewership data, enabling broadcasters and advertisers to understand exactly when audiences engage with content and when viewership drops. For live sports programming, this granular data informs advertising placement strategies and pricing tiers based on expected audience delivery during specific game moments.

The multicultural measurement component addresses advertising market gaps. Nielsen Ad Intel data from Q1 2025 showed online retailers invested approximately $363.42 million in English-language website advertising while allocating only $3.38 million to Spanish-language platforms, representing merely 0.92% of total digital budgets. This dramatic disparity creates opportunities for broadcasters like Gray Media with substantial Spanish-language properties to demonstrate Hispanic audience delivery that justifies increased advertiser investment.

Gray Media's broadcast sports networks require measurement that addresses both linear television delivery and streaming distribution. Nielsen maintains deals with all major professional sports leagues, providing measurement consistency regardless of distribution platform. This comprehensive approach proves essential as sports rights holders increasingly distribute content across multiple platforms simultaneously.

The measurement partnership supports Gray Media's competitive positioning against rival station groups. Local television broadcasting remains a competitive industry where station groups vie for advertising dollars, retransmission fee negotiations, and talent. Comprehensive measurement from an industry-standard provider strengthens sales arguments and provides third-party validation of audience delivery claims.

Nielsen's technology infrastructure supporting this partnership processes over 100 terabytes of data daily for clients, measuring more than one trillion minutes of viewing across streaming applications each month. This scale enables the granular measurement required for local television analysis across 113 separate markets while maintaining data quality and processing speed that supports timely reporting.

The partnership duration spans multiple years, according to the announcement, though specific terms remain undisclosed. Multi-year commitments provide measurement consistency that supports long-term strategic planning, audience trend analysis, and relationship building with advertising clients who value consistent measurement methodologies across buying cycles.

Local television measurement has grown more complex as viewing behavior fragments. Households increasingly consume local news, sports, and entertainment content across multiple devices and platforms. A comprehensive measurement approach that captures viewing regardless of delivery method - whether traditional broadcast, cable retransmission, or streaming - provides more accurate audience representation than single-platform measurement.

The agreement positions Gray Media to leverage Nielsen's measurement innovations as they develop. Nielsen continues expanding its measurement capabilities through partnerships, technology enhancements, and methodology improvements. Gray Media's multi-year commitment ensures access to these innovations as Nielsen deploys them across its measurement infrastructure.

Timeline

Summary

Who: Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, and Gray Media, one of the largest owners of local TV stations in the United States operating properties reaching 37% of U.S. TV audiences.

What: Multi-year partnership agreement providing local television measurement across Gray Media's entire U.S. footprint in 113 designated market areas, utilizing Nielsen's full suite of local audience marketing intelligence solutions including Big Data + Panel, Scarborough, NLTV, and streaming measurement.

When: Announced January 22, 2026, with the partnership extending across multiple years.

Where: All 113 U.S. designated market areas where Gray Media owns and operates local TV stations, including 13 broadcast sports networks and 44 Telemundo affiliates.

Why: The partnership addresses Gray Media's evolving viewership patterns across linear and OTT platforms while providing measurement scale for sports programming and multicultural audiences that only Nielsen can deliver through its 42,000-home panel, 45 million household data inputs, and specialized sports and Hispanic measurement capabilities.

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