Nielsen and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) have agreed to a new multi-year partnership that will provide measurement services across all of WBD’s platforms. The agreement covers linear TV, streaming services, live, and on-demand content. As reported by Adweek, the deal enhances WBD’s audience measurement tools and brings in advanced data solutions for the future.
What the Deal Includes
Beginning in 2026, WBD will adopt new services from Nielsen, tapping into Nielsen’s advanced audience capabilities. Adweek notes that WBD will continue to use Nielsen’s “Big Data + Panel” offering for its ad sales transactions, including during the upfronts and beyond.
Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel combines traditional panel measurement with data from cable and satellite set-top boxes, smart TVs, and other big-data inputs. The measure now covers approximately 45 million households and 75 million devices, offering insights that reflect both panel and device signals.
Why It Matters for Advertisers and Viewers
For advertisers, this expanded deal provides more reliable metrics across screens, which helps in planning, buying, and evaluating campaigns. WBD ad sales leaders say the priority is giving clients better tools and insights to understand campaign effectiveness.
From a viewer’s perspective, the deal pushes forward measurement innovation. It supports greater consistency in reporting viewership whether someone is watching streaming or traditional live content. Issues of accuracy, co-viewing, and cross-platform consistency are likely to improve.
What’s Next
Measurement innovation continues to evolve, and this deal signals that WBD is committed to offering more measurement optionality. As viewership habits shift more toward streaming, integrating advanced data sources and ensuring verified metrics will be central to the value proposition for both the network and its advertising partners.
