SAG-AFTRA has renewed its partnership with Nielsen to secure third-party streaming data, enhancing contract enforcement and negotiations for the actors union.
SAG-AFTRA Renews Streaming Insights Deal With Nielsen
EXCLUSIVE: SAG-AFTRA has renewed its contract with Nielsen to provide third-party streaming data and analytics to the guild.
Importance of Accurate Streaming Data
The 160,000-strong actors union has been utilizing Nielsen’s streaming content ratings service since it reached a deal with major Hollywood studios in 2023. This partnership aims to verify the viewership numbers provided directly by the streamers. Under the latest contract, studios have agreed to share performance data with the guilds and offer bonuses for titles that exceed a specified audience threshold.
Ensuring Transparency and Fairness
The primary objective of leveraging Nielsen’s insights is to maintain an objective source for comparison, ensuring the streamers remain accountable and assisting the union in enforcing contract provisions. SAG-AFTRA is also using Nielsen’s dataset to forecast future performance and enhance its negotiation strategies.
“We provide the most accurate, trusted, and accredited streaming data for our clients,” stated Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao. “It’s been incredibly rewarding to partner with SAG-AFTRA over the past year to serve as an independent arbiter of viewership for the best TV and movies in the world. We’re thrilled to continue the partnership.”
Negotiation Insights and Streaming Performance Bonus
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland emphasized the importance of Nielsen’s data in tracking additional metrics and stated, “Having the Nielsen streaming data to underpin the first-party data we receive has been both essential and highly effective.”
Two years ago, SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America fought for the streaming performance bonus, a crucial factor in the historically long strikes both unions faced.
The 2023 TV/Theatrical Agreement stipulates that a streaming title qualifies for a bonus if it garners enough domestic views in its first 90 days to match 20% of the streaming service’s domestic subscribers. “Views” are defined as the total hours viewed divided by the runtime of a project, rather than the actual number of unique accounts interacting with the title.
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Payment Structure for Performers
For SAG-AFTRA, any title that surpasses the viewership threshold will trigger a payment to each principal performer equivalent to 100% of the fixed residual. However, performers will receive only 75% of that payment, with the remaining 25% allocated to a fund managed by both SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP trustees for distribution among other union members.
Currently, neither the union nor the AMPTP has clarified the establishment of that fund or the payment distribution process. As Deadline reports, achieving 20% of domestic subscribers is a challenging target, with only a few titles, such as Stranger Things or select Marvel offerings, meeting that threshold.
Future Implications of the Nielsen Partnership
During negotiations, studios evaluated which projects would have qualified in the past year. Crabtree-Ireland noted that SAG-AFTRA conducted its own analysis to compare with the studios’ findings, expanding the data to include content from previous years.
“We believe we have a grasp on the potential revenue generated from this based on the number of qualifying shows and performers,” he stated. “It’s not a fixed number; it will depend on the success of projects.”
The relationship with Nielsen is crucial for SAG-AFTRA’s understanding of streaming data. Major media companies have historically kept their streaming performance insights closely guarded, though transparency has improved over time. The union is expected to leverage this knowledge in its upcoming negotiations for a 2026 TV/Theatrical contract next year.
