Nielsen secures two-year TV measurement extension in New Zealand

Nielsen announced on August 19, 2025, a two-year extension for television measurement services in New Zealand, maintaining the global audience measurement company's position as the primary data provider for the country's broadcasting industry. The renewed contract spans from July 2025 through June 2027 and encompasses both major New Zealand television broadcasters.

According to the announcement, the agreement continues Nielsen's partnership with New Zealand's Television Broadcasters Group, which includes Television New Zealand (TVNZ) and Sky Network Television. Sky Network Television's portfolio encompasses multiple properties including Sky Free, formerly known as Warner Bros. Discovery NZ.

The extended agreement reinforces Nielsen's measurement infrastructure in the New Zealand market, where the company has operated as a trusted partner for multiple years. The renewal comes as traditional television measurement faces increasing complexity from streaming platform adoption and fragmented viewing patterns across multiple devices.

Executive perspectives highlight market priorities

Monique Perry, Managing Director of Nielsen Pacific, emphasized the significance of the contract renewal for the New Zealand media landscape. "It's such a win for the New Zealand media market that Nielsen continues to serve broadcasters like Sky and TVNZ," Perry stated. "We've been a trusted partner for years, and that trust has only deepened with this renewed partnership."

Perry highlighted Nielsen's measurement services as representing a "gold-standard for precision and reliability," positioning the company's tools as essential for New Zealand media organizations navigating shifting audience consumption patterns. The statement underscores Nielsen's emphasis on maintaining measurement accuracy amid increasingly complex viewing behaviors.

Ben Gibb, Chair of Think TV, reinforced the importance of independent measurement infrastructure for New Zealand's broadcasting ecosystem. "This ongoing investment in TV measurement highlights that for New Zealand Broadcasters, independent and robust measurement continues to be crucial in ensuring transparency and trust in the market, enabling informed trading decisions," Gibb explained.

The emphasis on independence reflects broader industry concerns about measurement objectivity, particularly as streaming platforms develop their own internal analytics capabilities. Third-party measurement services like Nielsen provide standardized metrics that enable comparisons across different content platforms and advertising opportunities.

New streaming measurement capabilities introduced

Scott Gillham, Nielsen's Executive Director of Media Pacific, revealed plans for enhanced measurement offerings during the extended contract period. "This renewed partnership is a testament to the exceptional quality and industry-leading standards Nielsen consistently delivers in audience measurement," Gillham stated. "With the introduction of new streaming tools, we're excited to further elevate our offerings, providing unparalleled clarity and depth of insight for our valued partners in the market."

The introduction of new streaming measurement tools addresses critical gaps in traditional television audience tracking. As streaming platforms fragment audience attention across multiple services and viewing schedules, comprehensive measurement becomes increasingly complex for broadcasters and advertisers.

Nielsen's streaming measurement capabilities typically incorporate both traditional panel-based data collection and big data sources from streaming platform partners. The combination approach aims to provide more accurate audience estimates across multiple viewing platforms and consumption methods.

Industry context reflects global measurement trends

The New Zealand contract extension aligns with Nielsen's broader strategic focus on maintaining measurement partnerships amid industry consolidation and competitive pressure. The company has secured multiple renewal agreements with major broadcasters globally, including a multi-year partnership with Paramount Global covering broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms.

Nielsen's measurement approach has undergone significant transformation in recent years. The company ended its legacy panel-only TV ratings system in January 2025, transitioning to its Big Data + Panel measurement product that combines data from approximately 101,000 panel members with information from 75 million connected devices.

The measurement landscape has grown increasingly competitive as alternative providers including VideoAmp, Comscore, and iSpot.tv have developed digital-focused measurement technologies. These competitive pressures have prompted Nielsen to enhance its cross-platform measurement capabilities and expand partnerships with data providers.

New Zealand broadcasting landscape presents unique challenges

New Zealand's television market operates with distinct characteristics that influence measurement requirements. The country's relatively small population of approximately 5.2 million people creates unique sampling considerations for audience measurement panels. Additionally, the presence of both domestic and international content across multiple platforms requires sophisticated measurement methodologies.

Think TV, the organization represented by Ben Gibb, operates as an advocacy group focused on demonstrating television advertising effectiveness. The organization provides research, data analysis, and industry insights to support television's position in media planning strategies. Think TV was established in 2018 to promote television advertising benefits amid increasing competition from digital platforms.

The New Zealand market has experienced streaming adoption patterns similar to other developed countries, with multiple international platforms competing alongside domestic content providers. This fragmentation creates measurement complexity as audiences consume content across traditional broadcast schedules, on-demand viewing, and streaming platform libraries.

Measurement methodology considerations

Nielsen's audience measurement approach incorporates multiple data collection methodologies to capture comprehensive viewing patterns. The company's panel-based measurement involves recruiting households that agree to have their television viewing monitored through electronic meters that detect audio signatures from content.

The measurement system captures live viewing, time-shifted viewing through digital video recorders, and video-on-demand consumption across multiple platforms. Nielsen's methodology documentation indicates the system operates during "Total Day – 2:00 to 26:00 hrs" timeframes to ensure complete daily viewing capture.

Nielsen's measurement includes consolidated audience data that combines live viewing, time-shifted viewing within seven days, and video-on-demand consumption. This comprehensive approach aims to provide accurate audience estimates regardless of how or when content is consumed.

The company's measurement infrastructure has evolved to address modern viewing patterns where audiences consume content across multiple devices and platforms. Traditional television measurement focused primarily on linear broadcast viewing, but contemporary systems must account for streaming platforms, mobile viewing, and cross-device consumption patterns.

Advertising implications for New Zealand market

The contract extension provides stability for New Zealand's advertising trading environment, ensuring consistent measurement standards across major television properties. Standardized measurement enables advertisers to compare audience delivery across different networks and make informed media purchasing decisions.

The introduction of streaming measurement tools addresses advertiser concerns about audience fragmentation across multiple platforms. As streaming services capture increasing television viewing time, advertisers require comprehensive measurement that encompasses both traditional television and streaming consumption.

Streaming services have demonstrated significant growth globally, with Nielsen reporting that streaming captured a record 40.3% share of total TV usage in June 2024 in the United States. Similar trends in New Zealand create measurement challenges that Nielsen's enhanced tools aim to address.

The measurement data provided by Nielsen enables programmatic advertising strategies that optimize ad placement across multiple television and streaming platforms. Accurate audience data supports automated media buying systems that can adjust campaign parameters based on real-time viewership patterns.

Technical infrastructure requirements

Nielsen's measurement system requires substantial technical infrastructure to capture and process audience data across multiple platforms. The company's approach combines traditional people meters installed in selected households with big data sources from streaming platform partnerships and set-top box providers.

The measurement methodology incorporates sophisticated audio fingerprinting technology that identifies content being viewed regardless of the distribution platform. This approach enables measurement across broadcast television, streaming services, and other video platforms without requiring separate measurement systems for each content source.

Nielsen's measurement infrastructure must accommodate the diverse technology landscape in New Zealand, including traditional broadcast reception, satellite television distribution, cable systems, and internet-based streaming services. The system's ability to provide unified measurement across these different distribution methods represents a significant technical achievement.

Data processing requirements for comprehensive television measurement involve analyzing millions of viewing events daily and applying statistical methodologies to generate audience estimates. The system must account for various factors including time-shifting patterns, demographic weighting, and geographic distribution to produce accurate market-level audience data.

Future measurement challenges

The extended contract period through June 2027 will likely encompass continued evolution in television viewing patterns and measurement requirements. Emerging technologies including virtual reality content, interactive television experiences, and artificial intelligence-driven content recommendations may require additional measurement capabilities.

Nielsen faces ongoing pressure to maintain measurement accuracy while adapting to rapidly changing media consumption patterns. The company must balance traditional television measurement with streaming platform requirements while ensuring data consistency across different content sources.

The New Zealand market's adoption of new television technologies and streaming services will test Nielsen's measurement capabilities during the contract period. The company's ability to adapt its measurement methodology to accommodate emerging viewing patterns will influence its competitive position in the global measurement market.

International streaming platforms continue expanding their presence in markets like New Zealand, creating additional measurement complexity as content libraries and viewing patterns evolve. Nielsen's measurement system must accommodate these changes while maintaining consistent data quality and reliability standards.

Timeline

• July 2025: Nielsen's extended New Zealand TV measurement contract begins
• August 19, 2025: Nielsen announces two-year extension for TV measurement services in New Zealand
• January 24, 2025: Nielsen ends legacy panel-only TV ratings system globally, transitioning to Big Data + Panel approach
• February 3, 2025: Nielsen expands audience measurement deal with Paramount across platforms
• 2018: Think TV established to promote television advertising effectiveness in New Zealand
• June 2027: Nielsen's extended New Zealand TV measurement contract expires

PPC Land explains

Nielsen: The global leader in audience measurement, data, and analytics that operates in more than 55 countries worldwide. Nielsen provides standardized measurement services that enable media companies, advertisers, and agencies to understand audience behavior across multiple platforms. The company has maintained a dominant position in television measurement for decades, serving as the industry standard for advertising transactions and media planning decisions.

Measurement: The systematic process of quantifying television and streaming audience consumption patterns to provide standardized data for media trading and advertising decisions. Audience measurement involves collecting viewing data from representative household panels and big data sources, then applying statistical methodologies to generate market-level audience estimates that reflect total population viewing behavior.

Streaming: The delivery of television and video content over internet connections, enabling on-demand viewing and time-shifted consumption patterns. Streaming platforms have fundamentally altered traditional television viewing habits by providing content libraries accessible across multiple devices and viewing schedules, creating new measurement challenges for audience tracking systems.

Television: The primary medium for video content consumption that encompasses traditional broadcast networks, cable channels, and streaming platforms accessed through television screens. Modern television measurement must account for content consumed across linear schedules, on-demand viewing, and streaming services to provide comprehensive audience data.

New Zealand: The Pacific island nation with approximately 5.2 million residents that represents a distinct television market requiring specialized measurement approaches. New Zealand's broadcasting landscape includes domestic content providers like TVNZ alongside international streaming platforms, creating unique measurement requirements for the country's media ecosystem.

Audience: The collective group of viewers consuming television and streaming content across different platforms and time periods. Audience measurement systems track viewing behavior to provide demographic breakdowns, viewing duration, and consumption patterns that enable advertisers to reach specific target segments effectively.

Platform: The various distribution channels and services through which television content reaches audiences, including broadcast networks, cable systems, streaming services, and connected television devices. Modern measurement systems must track audience behavior across multiple platforms to provide comprehensive viewing data for media planning purposes.

Data: The quantitative information collected about television viewing patterns, audience demographics, and content consumption behaviors that forms the foundation of media measurement systems. Data sources include electronic meters in panel households, set-top box information, streaming platform analytics, and connected device viewing logs that combine to create comprehensive audience insights.

Services: The measurement products and analytical tools that Nielsen provides to broadcasters, advertisers, and agencies for understanding audience behavior and making informed media decisions. These services encompass traditional television ratings, streaming measurement, cross-platform analytics, and advanced audience segmentation capabilities.

Contract: The formal business agreement between Nielsen and New Zealand's Television Broadcasters Group that defines the scope, duration, and terms of measurement services provided. The two-year extension contract ensures continuity of standardized measurement infrastructure while introducing enhanced streaming measurement capabilities for the New Zealand market.

Summary

Who: Nielsen, the global audience measurement company, along with New Zealand's Television Broadcasters Group comprising Television New Zealand (TVNZ) and Sky Network Television (including Sky Free).

What: A two-year extension of television measurement services contract that includes traditional broadcast measurement and new streaming measurement tools.

When: The extension was announced on August 19, 2025, covering the period from July 2025 through June 2027.

Where: New Zealand's television market, encompassing both major broadcasting networks and their streaming platforms.

Why: To maintain independent, standardized audience measurement that enables transparent media trading decisions and provides comprehensive viewing data across traditional television and streaming platforms amid increasingly fragmented audience consumption patterns.