Viacom’s chief executive Philippe Dauman has accused research company Nielsen of failing to keep up with how consumers are now watching TV.

The broadcaster yesterday reported that third quarter revenues had increased by 9% to $3.99bn – attributed to strong box-office successes such as ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’. However, research from Nielsen indicated that ratings for Viacom’s networks including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon had fallen by 15%.

Dauman said that a large portion of Viacom’s viewing rates come through mobile apps, games consoles and other platforms that Nielsen ratings exclude.

“We are in a transitional moment with existing measurement services that have not caught up to the marketplace,” said Dauman during a conference call.

“They are trying to catch up. I am sure they will eventually catch up. In the meantime, we are not waiting for that.”

Nielsen’s global digital product leader Megan Clarken acknowledged in an article on MediaPost the flaws in Nielsen’s methodology.

“Over the past two years, we have seen a decline in traditional live TV ratings, first starting among younger demos. Beginning in April, that decline began to accelerate to include most demos, leading broadcast and cable networks to ask questions about their missing viewers” said Clarken.

“The growing penetration of new devices and the popularity of subscription-based streaming services, time-shifted and over-the-top viewing — as well as cord-cutting and cord shaving — are fundamentally changing the TV industry.”

Clarken concluded that Nielsen will start to “present the total picture of the consumer” and reflect their viewing “of all content available.”