Mumbai : Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data and media intelligence, has announced the launch of a new pilot program aimed at more accurately accounting for co-viewing, further strengthening the way total television audiences—particularly for live events—are measured.
The pilot will debut with Super Bowl LX, airing on NBC on Sunday, February 8, 2026, and will extend to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events through the first half of the year. Initial findings from the pilot will be released a few weeks after Nielsen delivers its final Big Data + Panel ratings, which will continue to serve as industry currency.
Commenting on the initiative, Karthik Rao, CEO, Nielsen, said, “Nielsen’s mission is to constantly push measurement forward and deliver the most accurate data ever. This co-viewing pilot builds on that mission, alongside our recent enhancements with Big Data + Panel, out of home expansion, live streaming measurement and our wearable devices. Our clients produce live TV events that get the world watching. It’s our job to make sure we are accurately counting the audiences they meticulously build.”
Nielsen has long been positioned to measure instances where multiple viewers watch content together. The new pilot methodology enhances this capability by leveraging Nielsen’s proprietary wearable measurement devices. Worn on the wrist by Nielsen panelists and resembling smart watches, these devices passively capture audio from TV events, shows and movies—eliminating the need for manual logging and enabling more accurate shared-viewing measurement.
The co-viewing pilot underscores Nielsen’s ongoing commitment to innovation in audience measurement. In recent years, the company has introduced significant advancements, including the widespread adoption of Big Data + Panel measurement, first-party data integration for live streaming, and expanded out-of-home measurement. Nielsen continues to be a trusted source for streaming insights through reports such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.
Co-viewing estimates from the pilot will not be immediately incorporated into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings and will therefore not be treated as transaction currency for advertisers. However, the pilot data will be made available to Nielsen clients after the delivery of Big Data + Panel ratings, and clients will be permitted to share the findings publicly.
Nielsen plans to provide additional impact data later in 2026, ahead of fully integrating co-viewing methodology into its marketing intelligence products, with the goal of including it in currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This initiative represents the first phase of broader co-viewing enhancements, with further developments planned beyond 2026.
