TLDR
UK company tvbeat has won New Zealand's new television audience measurement contract, replacing Nielsen from mid-2027 with a system that combines broadcasters' first-party viewing data with Ipsos panel calibration. OzTAM put Australia's TV ratings contract out to tender in July 2026 for the first time since 2001, and tvbeat already works with Foxtel Media in Australia.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The contract
TVNZ and Sky have selected UK company tvbeat to lead a new Audience Measurement System for New Zealand television, with Ipsos supplying the Establishment Survey and MediaCell panel calibration. The announcement, confirmed by Ipsos on 15 October 2026, names tvbeat as lead technology provider and Ipsos as the independent research partner.[1] The process was run jointly by TVNZ and Sky, and the system is due to launch from mid-2027, when Nielsen's role ends.[3]
Nielsen is not gone yet. The company signed a contract extension in August 2025 covering July 2025 through to June 2027, giving broadcasters a managed runway to build what comes next.[2] Mumbrella's report carried no comment from Nielsen.[5]
How the new system works
The new system combines large-scale first-party viewing data held by the broadcasters themselves with Ipsos panel calibration.[1] It will combine local broadcast and streaming viewing in one measure for the first time in New Zealand.[3]
Valerie Walshe, TVNZ's chief revenue officer, said "audiences don't think in platforms."[5] Phil Lucy, Sky's chief sales officer, said: "This is about measuring what matters, in full."[5] Robert Farazin, tvbeat's founder and chief executive, said "measurement needs to capture that full picture."[3]
What it means for Australia
The New Zealand result lands at an awkward moment for Nielsen across the Tasman. In July, OzTAM put Australia's TV ratings contract out to tender for the first time since 2001, and Nielsen has held the official Australian ratings role for a quarter century.[5]
tvbeat is not unknown to Australian buyers: Foxtel Media confirmed a partnership with the firm in October 2024 to convert linear television spots into digitally tracked impressions, independently audited by audience research company RSMB for Sky UK.[4]
OzTAM is not the only contest. In August, the Video Futures Collective announced a cross-media measurement system launching in 2027, capturing data from Amazon Prime, Disney, Foxtel, Netflix, Samsung Ads, SBS, Vevo and YouTube.[5] Analyst Steve Allen expects a fight whoever wins: "There'll always be winners and losers," he said, adding that the losers will likely dispute the results.[5]
For agencies and advertisers placing television budgets in Australia, the OzTAM tender has no publicly confirmed decision date, and the New Zealand transition itself does not complete until mid-2027.
SOURCES & CITATIONS
- Advancing Total TV Audience Measurement in New Zealand, Ipsos
- Sky and TVNZ back Nielsen as NZ TV measurement provider under new partnership, Nielsen
- TVNZ and Sky partner up to transform audience measurement, StopPress
- Foxtel Media partners with tvbeat to digitise linear ad impressions, Foxtel Group
- Nielsen loses New Zealand TV audience measurement contract, Mumbrella
Xaviery Malinao writes for Prompt the Market on how brands and agencies are adapting to answer engines, drawing on Bushnote's work with clients across search, AI search and content.
