Jul 19, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Yankees former pitcher CC Sabathia (left) and television anchor Bob Costas (right) broadcast from the field before the start of a game between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.
Jul 19, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Yankees former pitcher CC Sabathia (left) and television anchor Bob Costas (right) broadcast from the field before the start of a game between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.
NBC will make apples-to-apples rating comparisons easier by allowing Nielsen to measure Peacock streaming viewership for NFL and MLB Wild Card games.
Front Office Sports first reported the news, and Sports Business Journal later added more details.
NBC previously used Adobe Analytics to measure streaming viewership on Peacock. When the network reported viewership, it included an added number from Nielsen-measured linear viewership and Adobe-measured streaming viewership, which it called Total Audience Delivery (TAD). Every other major sports network allows Nielsen to measure streaming, so only one Nielsen number is reported.
Now NBC will utilize Nielsen to measure streaming on Peacock. According to SBJ, Adobe will continue to do internal measurements for Peacock, but Nielsen will verify the numbers. This is the same way that Amazon Prime Video reports its Nielsen viewership numbers.
Intentionally or unintentionally, that has seemingly caused friction with other broadcast partners. Both Fox, with MLB, and CBS, with the WNBA, put out press releases announcing their game had “won the week” despite NBC reporting higher TAD viewership numbers in the same sport those weeks.
Fox, especially from President of Insights and Analytics Michael Mulvihill, has been more vocal about their displeasure with TAD numbers coming from NBC.
During the World Cup in early July, Mulvihill noted that group stage viewing of the World Cup had surpassed total viewing of the Winter Olympics on NBC among teens, 18-34s and 18-49s. The NBC Sports PR account replied that the comparison excluded younger-skewing streaming viewers.
“Guys, we can only compare to what you choose to rate via Nielsen,” Mulvihill responded. “Get your streaming Nielsen-rated like the rest of the business, and we’re happy to make the fuller comparison.”
In August, Nielsen sent a message to networks noting that “mixing internal or third-party data with Nielsen metrics to make comparative statements in the press is not permissible.” Mulvihill responded to that letter on X by saying, “Hopefully this clear, fair policy will be rigorously enforced during football season,” he said.
These changes, however, will not apply to all sports. MLB regular season games and college football will continue to get the TAD treatment. Sources also told SBJ that no decision has been made yet on how NBA regular-season games will be reported.
As ratings and rating comparisons have become increasingly mainstream in recent years, they have become less and less apples-to-apples. Nielsen continues to change its metrics, which likely result in more accurate viewership numbers, but media companies are encouraged to make year-over-year comparisons despite different methodologies.
A 15% increase from a number recorded by Nielsen’s new “Big Data” standard to the old “panel” standard could be solely the result of these methodological changes, but you would have no way of knowing that based on networks’ press releases.
NBC’s usage of Adobe Analytics has the same problems. It may be a more accurate number, but how much of Telemundo’s viewership increase from the 2022 to 2026 World Cup is the result of these additional metrics instead of expanded interest?
For the NFL and the Wild Card Series, this change by NBC will be a rare instance that should allow better year-over-year comparisons. But with Nielsen continuing to make methodological changes, ratings will remain hard to interpret.