On Nov. 4, after an exhaustive internal investigation by dozens of Nielsen staffers that began nearly a week earlier, Nielsen affirmed that its November 2016 Cable Network Coverage Area Universe Estimates were accurate as originally released.
“We take the accuracy of our data very seriously and determined the magnitude of change merited a thorough review of our processes to be certain that these estimates were produced correctly,” Nielsen said.
ESPN, the Walt Disney Co.-owned sports and entertainment network most affected by the new “UEs,” was less than satisfied with Nielsen’s conclusions.
In a statement in response to Nielsen’s findings, ESPN said, “This most recent snapshot from Nielsen is a historic anomaly for the industry and inconsistent with much more moderated trends observed by other respected third party analysts. It also does not measure DMVPDs and other new distributors and we hope to work with Nielsen to capture this growing market in future reports.”
Bruce Leichtman, President and Principal Analyst at New Hampshire-based Leichtman Research Group, agrees.
