Numbers game: Networks up the offensive against Nielsen

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

If you want to get a visceral reaction out of a television executive, just ask about Nielsen ratings.

‘What the heck is going on?’ asks an exasperated Anne Sweeney, president of Disney/ABC Television Group in a chat with Company Town this morning. Sweeney, like other industry leaders, is worried that the TV viewing numbers Nielsen provides aren’t accurate. Earlier this spring, Nielsen acknowledged it conducted a study that revealed compliance issues involving the homes where it places measuring devices and that that could mean its numbers were a little off.

In a business that banks billions on those numbers, being off a little is kind of hard to swallow.

‘It’s so irritating how they handle these things,’ Fox Networks Group CEO Tony Vinciquerra complained to Variety. ‘I want to know what are they going to do about it.’

While networks being upset with Nielsen is nothing new, talking so openly about it is. In years past, there has been concern in the executive suites about publicly bashing the outfit that provides the numbers they use to sell commercials. After all, if the networks don’t believe the numbers, why should advertisers?

But Nielsen’s admission about the compliance issues has opened the door for the industry to rip the firm. ‘They’re questioning themselves,’ says Sweeney, who adds that there have been several high-level meetings with Nielsen as of late and more ‘have to happen.’

Nielsen is getting just a little tired of being publicly flogged. In a bit of role reversal, Nielsen is questioning the accuracy of the articles criticizing the research company. A spokesman complained that reports that its compliance study showed ratings could be off by as much as 8% were ‘incorrect.’ As for the shots from the networks, the spokesman said, ‘we’ve been discussing the study with clients including Fox and have had a lot of positive feedback from them.’

-- Joe Flint