I asked AI for a detailed explanation. Nielsen ratings, as well as others, factor into viewership/advertising dollars given to each team.
Over-the-air (OTA) television viewed through an antenna can be included in Nielsen ratings. Nielsen specifically measures OTA households as part of its TV audience panels. Nielsen notes that data from smart TVs and cable/satellite set-top boxes alone do not capture OTA viewing, which is one reason Nielsen continues to use its panel-based measurement systems.
In practical terms:
- If your household has been selected as part of a Nielsen panel, your OTA viewing can be measured.
- If you simply watch TV with an antenna and are not part of a Nielsen-measured household, your individual viewing is not directly counted. Nielsen estimates total audiences from its sample households.
- Nielsen reports that OTA households remain a significant portion of U.S. TV homes, with roughly 18-20% of TV households having OTA capability in recent measurements.
So the short answer is: Yes, OTA viewing is captured by Nielsen ratings, but primarily through Nielsen's measurement panels rather than by tracking every antenna user individually.