The official numbers for the YouTube stream of Friday night’s Chiefs-Chargers game were disappointing. And there’s a good chance they’re not entirely accurate.
Via Eric Fisher of FrontOfficeSports.com, a pair of execs from ESPN and Fox have questioned the Nielsen methodology that generated the measurement of 17.3 million worldwide viewers for the free stream of the game from Brazil.
On Friday, amid advance concerns that the numbers wouldn’t be counted the same way they are for other networks, ESPN senior V.P. of research Flora Kelly tweeted this: “Not the same approach as the rest of us, nor [Media Rating Council] accredited. Conclusion … their rating is not a fair comp.”
On Monday, when the official numbers were released, Kelly added: “With no transparency into the methodology I have no idea what these numbers mean. That’s the problem with an approach like this and why clear and transparent methodology matters.”
Fox’s Mike Mulvihill, who objected on Friday to the fact that the Nielsen measurements wouldn’t be shared with other customers, made this observation in response to Nielsen’s claim that YouTube “did not have sufficient time . . . to have proper audience inputs for its accredited workflow": “This game was announced four months ago. What would have been sufficient time?”
Here’s the implication. Both Kelly/ESPN and Mulvihill/Fox believe the real numbers were lower than the number that was announced. Which is a fair conclusion; if YouTube or the NFL believed the Nielsen figure was too low, YouTube and the NFL would be saying so.
Loudly.
