Nielsen’s New Insights Could Help Shift Ad Budgets in the Upfront

Each year, advertisers commit billions of dollars through the TV upfront, and measurement giant Nielsen is looking to help guide those budgets even more.

Today, Nielsen released a new upfront planning guide, which takes a more granular view of ad-supported TV viewership trends across key audience demos and sports. According to Brian Hughes, Nielsen data communications director, the hope is that companies can use the insights to help strategize and allocate their upfront budgets.

Hughes has first-hand knowledge of the upfront trenches, spending nearly two decades at MAGNA, where he helped co-develop upfront strategy. He noted that the data and insights are meant to serve as thought starters around the upfront, helping marketers take advantage of viewership trends.

“The idea is really to get them thinking about it,” Hughes said. “I’m really hoping it gives people ideas and helps them want to go deep with the data and figure out the best way forward.”

Diving into the data

Among the major findings from its upfront planning study, Nielsen found that linear, FAST, and AVOD attract different audience profiles, and advertisers should approach different viewing options as an integrated ecosystem. So, depending on who advertisers want to reach, each has opportunities.

According to Nielsen, Adults 18-49 spend 63.8% of their TV time with ad-supported TV, and streaming accounts for 66.7% of that time.

Meanwhile, within streaming, 81.1% of Adults 18-49 viewership occurs on ad-supported tiers of platforms such as YouTube, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Peacock, and Paramount+. The remaining 19% goes to FAST, which a Nielsen spokesperson also noted offers more diverse viewership and captures growing attention from viewers aged 35-64.

Non-FAST AVOD, including platforms like Disney+ and Netflix, continue to reach the youngest viewers, “effectively capturing the 18 to 34 and 2 to 17 age groups,” according to Nielsen.

Even with all that streaming, 33.4% of total time remains on linear, which Nielsen says is “critical” to live sports, events, and news.

Scoring with sports

Nielsen said publishing platforms also have distinct audiences, and that sports accounted for nearly 30% of all ad-supported TV viewing among Adults 25-54 in Q4 2025.

Looking at the specific platforms, the measurement company said NBC’s NBA games have a broad reach among viewers, and Prime Video’s games skew towards “younger digital natives who watch less linear TV.”

Meanwhile, the platforms also have different viewer compositions.

Prime Video has a higher percentage of Adults 18-34 in its audience, but NBC attracts a comparable overall number of Adults 18-34. In addition, ABC and ESPN have the highest viewership in the demo.

On to the upfront

Heading into the upfront, Nielsen’s panel + big data remains the dominant currency for publishers and brands to transact in 2026. This comes despite the offering having consistency issues in the last upfront, according to media buyers, and the Media Rating Council recently saying it had found “unusual changes” in panel + big data measurement results.

Regarding the MRC’s findings, a Nielsen spokesperson noted that the panel + big data offering is still accredited by the MRC and that the company adheres to the MRC’s voluntary code of conduct. Likewise, the MRC has said Nielsen has proposed several solutions to issues.

But beyond its measurement offerings and the storylines that follow them, Nielsen’s upfront planning insights are its latest step in expanding its relationships with clients, as the company looks to become a more strategic partner for brands and agencies moving forward.

Though its latest upfront planning data and insights mainly focus on the Adults 18-49 demo, Hughes stressed that Nielsen could get more granular and explore other demos or insights with clients.

“We have so much data and so many ways to look at it,” Hughes said. “I think that people aren’t always aware of that, so we’re always looking for ways to bring value and really be a media intelligence partner, not just a TV ratings company.”

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