Warner Bros. Discovery and Nielsen have struck a new multi-year measurement and analytics deal covering the media giant’s linear and streaming platforms, the companies announced Thursday.
The expanded partnership will see WBD take on new services in 2026 that will tap into Nielsen’s advanced audience capabilities. It will continue to use the firm’s Big Data + Panel as currency for the upfront and beyond.
“At WBD, our priority is to provide clients the most reliable tools and actionable insights to better reach their audiences and maximize their campaigns’ effectiveness,” WBD ad sales data, insights and research head David Porter said in a statement. “As the industry continues to accelerate currency innovation and optionality across the marketplace, Nielsen’s robust measurement capabilities will deliver our partners smarter data and solutions to better capture performance and viewership across all screens, further optimizing the impact of their ad spend and inventory.”
The deal comes after Big Data + Panel was accredited by the Media Rating Council in January and used as currency for the first time during the 2025 upfronts.
As of Sept. 1, Nielsen’s press policy states all press claims by broadcasters, networks and streamers should be based on the Big Data + Panel.
“As our industry leading reports show, Warner Bros. Discovery is one of the top media companies in the world, consistently delivering hits for fans across every platform,” Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao added. “Nielsen is the only company that can deliver measurement for every way that fans watch their shows, across all platforms. From streaming to linear and live to on demand, we give Warner Bros. Discovery the data they need to grow their business. We’re thrilled to extend our partnership so that we can deliver accurate data for Warner Bros. Discovery and our mutual advertising clients.”
The new measurement tool combines Nielsen’s existing panel with data from cable, satellite set-top boxes and smart TVs across 45 million households and 75 million devices through the company’s partnership with big data partners like Roku, Comcast, Dish, Vizio, and DirecTV. It also incorporates first-party data from participating streaming services for live events.
The NFL recently said it “strongly supports” Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel, but noted there’s “more work to be done” to achieve the most accurate viewership information, especially as it pertains to co-viewing for big games like the Super Bowl or holiday games.
“It remains ‘a journey with Nielsen,’ is probably the right way to describe it,” chief data and analytics officer Paul Ballew said earlier this month. “We’re going to continue to work with Nielsen, and we’re going to continue to work with other partners to accelerate the measurement innovation even further.”
