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Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed Monday that AEW’s live simulcasts on HBO Max are not included in Nielsen’s measured television audiences for Dynamite or Collision.
In an email to Wrestlenomics responding to our inquiry, a WBD spokesperson said that despite Nielsen’s recent transition to its new Big Data + Panel methodology, “nothing has changed in terms of what is baked into their numbers from the WBD side of things.” The spokesperson added, “AEW’s Dynamite and Collision linear viewership information reported by Nielsen (still) does not include HBO Max streaming viewership.”
The clarification addresses questions about whether Nielsen’s expanded data sources now capture viewing of simultaneous live feeds on streaming apps like HBO Max when watched on televisions. At least in the case of AEW on HBO Max, that’s not the case, according to WBD. That doesn’t necessarily mean that streaming viewership isn’t included in broadcasts under other media companies, like Paramount or NBCUniversal.
We also contacted Nielsen to ask about this issue but have yet to hear back.
Nielsen’s new system was fully implemented this quarter and blends traditional panel households that opt in to providing data, along with much broader data collected from set-top boxes and smart TVs. So far, this change in methodology has resulted in generally lower audience measurements for AEW and WWE programs.
Last Wednesday’s Dynamite measured at 465,000 viewers. Outside of preemptions, it was a lower number than Dynamite had recorded for any episode under the previous methodology. Recent episodes of WWE’s Smackdown and NXT also registered lower than normal numbers under the new Big Data + Panel system.
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.