In the battle to determine exactly who is watching what in the fractured landscape of modern television, two of the industry’s biggest players are doubling down on their data-sharing alliance.

Nielsen and Roku announced a new multiyear agreement on Thursday that will weave the streaming platform’s massive trove of viewer data into Nielsen’s measurement products. The deal aims to solve a persistent headache for Madison Avenue: accurately counting eyeballs when they are scattered across traditional cable, connected TVs, and ad-supported streaming apps.

Under the pact, Roku’s data will be fed directly into Nielsen’s “Big Data + Panel” product. This hybrid system combines the firm’s classic viewer diaries with digital pings from millions of set-top boxes and smart TVs.

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The Power of the Remote

Roku is a titan of the American living room. Its devices account for more than 21 percent of all television viewing in the United States, according to Nielsen’s own research. By gaining access to this granular level of detail, Nielsen can sharpen its “outcome solutions”—the metrics that tell an advertiser not just if a commercial aired, but if it actually drove a consumer to act.

In return, Roku will receive a VIP pass to Nielsen’s streaming platform ratings. This “line of sight” into the broader market is critical for The Roku Channel, which currently sits as the second-largest ad-supported streaming app in the country.

“This partnership addresses a timely industry need: granular insights that marketers need to grow their brands,” said Ameneh Atai, general manager of audience measurement at Nielsen.

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The Fight for the Standard

For Nielsen, the deal is a much-needed victory in its quest to remain the “gold standard” of measurement. While its “Big Data + Panel” system received accreditation from the Media Rating Council in January, some industry players have grumbled about its methodology, arguing that it still struggles to capture the full complexity of the streaming era.

To quiet the skeptics, Nielsen has been on a partnership blitz this month:

• Amazon: Nielsen’s audience segments are now available via Amazon’s demand-side platform, allowing advertisers to target Prime Video and Fire TV users with Nielsen-backed insights.
• Horizon Media: The firm deepened its ties with the independent agency to focus on “identity-matching,” a high-tech way of ensuring the person watching on a tablet is the same person who saw an ad on the big screen.

As the “upfront” season approaches—when networks sell the bulk of their ad space—the alliance suggests that while the way we watch TV has changed forever, the race to count us remains as cutthroat as ever.

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