Nielsen Announces New Local Methodology Enhancements

New York August 31, 2026 Nielsen is announcing four new local methodology enhancements that will be activated into Local TV currency data starting today, August 31, 2026, ahead of the 2026/2027 broadcast season.

The announcement is made in conjunction with Nielsen's earlier news of seven key enhancements to its currency methodology changes to its National TV measurement service before the new broadcast TV season. As the video landscape evolves, Nielsen's innovations & these enhancements are singularly focused on delivering the most comprehensive Local & National media intelligence to both Buyers & Sellers. With all of the recent Nielsen measurement innovations, both local and national, the goal is for more accurate ratings. These important new Local enhancements include the following:

One Minute Qualifier (1MQ): Currently Local TV uses a 5 minute qualifier for crediting the quarter hour. This leaves upwards of 24% of tuning events unreported. Adjusting to a 1 minute qualifier will not only provide a more complete view of total Local TV audiences, it will empower buyers and sellers to better understand the scope and reach of Local TV in every DMA across the country.

Household Demographic Assignment Model (HDAM) Update: The implementation of this improved HDAM across both Local & National represents a significant step to eliminate bias and better represent tuning differences across younger and older households.

PPM in Viewer Assignment: A national and local innovation to more precisely capture co-viewing, particularly for live events. By leveraging passive data from wearable technology into demographic assignment, Nielsen customers will benefit from more accurate co-viewing audiences in both Big Data and Panel homes across the DMAs where set meter and code reader panels are utilized.

Spanish Language Universe Estimate (UE) Update (effective 09/26/2026): A national and local methodology update combining the American Community Survey (ACS) with the currently used National Hispanic Television Survey (NHTS) to increase sample for language classifications. Combining ACS and NHES data to produce a modeled Spanish Language Universe Estimate of language spoken in the home. This change, which will be implemented on September 26, 2026, adds more robust respondent data across more markets to the UE process.

In recent years, Nielsen has made tremendous advances in its local audience measurement, including the adoption of Big Data + Panel measurement and the launch of Local OTT measurement. The new enhancements will continue to build on Nielsen's momentum of providing the marketplace with unparalleled comprehensive measurement of television audiences.

About Nielsen Nielsen is a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviors across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their global audiences-now and into the future. Learn more at www.nielsen.com and connect with us on social media (X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram).

Contact Sarah Muratore

sarah.muratore@nielsen.com

LINK:	https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2026/nielsen-announces-new-local-m...
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