Nielsen has stuck by a recent report by the audience data measurement company that outlined a significant fall in ESPN subscribers, despite being challenged by the US pay-television sports broadcaster.
The data, which showed a decline in subscriber numbers for most pay-television broadcasters, indicated that ESPN lost 621,000 subscribers month-on-month through to October 28.
ESPN questioned the accuracy of the findings, saying: “This most recent snapshot from Nielsen is a historic anomaly for the industry and inconsistent with much more moderated trends observed by other respected third-party analysts.”
The share price of ESPN’s parent company, Disney, fell by nearly one per cent on Friday after Nielsen’s data was disclosed.
However, Nielsen said that it had undertaken an “extensive review” following ESPN’s objection and now “verified that November estimates were accurate as originally released and that all the processes that go into the creation of these estimates were done correctly.”
Nielsen added that it is “researching new and emerging technologies and multichannel providers” to include relevant figures in future reports.