SAG-AFTRA Will Use Nielsen Streaming Data To Enforce New Contract Terms

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Union members get bonuses if streaming shows beat benchmarks

SAG-AFTRA national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland pickets during 2023 actors strike
SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland pickets outside Paramount studios in Los Angeles during last year’s actors strike. (Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Nielsen said that actors’ union SAG-AFTRA has selected Nielsen as its third-party provider of streaming content measurement.

The union needs the data because its new contract calls for members to get additional pay based on the success of streaming shows.

“New business models require new tools, and that’s why we’ve enlisted Nielsen,” SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said. “The information they provide will give us the means to cross-check the data streamers give us and ensure employers are fulfilling their contractual obligations to our members.” 

Nielsen’s data will complement first-party data from streaming platforms and serve as a consistent and comparable lens through which the performance of streaming titles across various distribution platforms can be analyzed.  

“The rapid evolution of the media landscape and audience behaviors over the past decade has not only affected how content is consumed and measured, but also greatly impacts the financial models on which the entertainment industry operates,” Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao said. “We are incredibly proud that SAG-AFTRA has chosen Nielsen as the source for objective and consistent audience measurement insights in the streaming space.”

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.