As part of the much-welcomed deal between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP last year, finally bringing a halt to the sustained strike action, we saw a new “streaming bonus” added to the union’s working agreement. This new model replaced their hoped-for streaming residuals model in order to get the deal closed. Now the dust has settled, it’s time for some of that new agreement to kick into action- with an interesting new twist added to the data gathering needed for that tracking to occur. Brandon Blake, our entertainment lawyer from Blake & Wang P.A., shares the news.
Data from Everyone, Not Just Studios
As part of the eventually ratified deal, streamers agreed to release some confidential viewing data to the union, mostly to gauge which shows meet the criteria for the streaming bonus. Unsurprisingly, it seems the union isn’t just willing to take their word for it. SAG-AFTRA has now inked a deal with well-known analytics firm, Nielsen, to be its third-party provider of streaming content measurement alongside that first-party data.
New Business Models, New Tools
In their press release on the matter, SAG-AFTRA highlighted that, with the advent of a new business model, new tools are needed. With Nielsen’s data in hand, the union will be able to ‘double-check’ the streaming data they receive aligns with what is trending, ensuring that the contractual obligations outlined in the agreement are properly met.
Nielsen itself is in the midst of a transformation to the streaming-first landscape we now have, with the added difficulties of multi-device access and “walled gardens” of data, which the tech-companies-turned-streamers, especially, have been reluctant to divulge.
It’s certainly an interesting way to safeguard and verify the first-party data they will be receiving, providing something of a “data safety net” to ensure that the data provided, even if not identical due to those measurement challenges, at least aligns with that seen by third-party aggregators as well.
