Streaming and linear TV have been competing for viewers’ attention, media dollars and lucrative sports rights. Digital media is also vying for share of the total media mix.

The right data is critical to make sure you’re speaking to your target audience in the right places. In Nielsen’s 2025-2026 Upfront/NewFront guide, we dive into the trends driving today’s changing media, audiences and advertising ecosystem—so you can plan for the year ahead.

Competitive advertising intelligence has never been more critical.

Black America continues to grow, and the outsized impact of their cultural and economic influence cannot be ignored or taken for granted. Learn how brands can connect with this community to impact, grow and win with inclusion.

In this year’s report, we explore how Black audiences in the U.S. are leaning into media that emphasize the spoken word, invite conversation and create a sense of connection.

The Media Rating Council (MRC) has completed its accreditation process covering Nielsen’s innovative Big Data + Panel National TV measurement.

Nielsen uniquely goes farther than device-level data, verifying at the persons-level with panel data. By using panels as a source of truth, Nielsen developed robust methods to calibrate big data, assign viewing to the right individuals, and project audience estimates to the entire TV population, not just those in the big data dataset. To showcase how a deeper understanding of your audience can help you navigate the new media landscape, we explored the media habits of three advanced audiences in the U.S.