Broadcaster Sues Nielsen JV After 'Bribery' Claim

Filipino broadcasting firm ABS-CBN has filed a lawsuit against AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines for gathering and releasing what the firm describes as 'erroneous' TV ratings data, following the 'bribing' of respondents by one of its competitors.

'We have discovered what can only be viewed as a systematic, organised and well funded attempt to cheat in the ratings,' said the company's Chairman and CEO Eugenio Lopez III in a statement.

The broadcaster claims to have been approached by someone who has confessed that he was hired by another TV network to locate and bribe metered households to switch to a different channel.

Vivian Tin, ABS-CBN Research and Business Analysis Chief said that her firm had informed Nielsen last November about the bribery attempts and asked the agency 'to stop the release of erroneous data, check the panel nationwide and resume release only when they can guarantee the integrity of the data.'

She said the network had filed the suit after Nielsen continued to release the weekly TV ratings even after the informant met with Nielsen officials. The firm has also applied to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court for a temporary restraining order on AGB Nielsen surveys.

The agency gathers the ratings data from 1,540 homes for its national urban television audience measurement (NUTAM) panel, which represents 37 million individuals in the country. Tin said that any attempt to influence the behaviour of NUTAM members - such as giving them incentives to watch programmes that they do not want to watch - renders the results 'unrepresentative'.

In a text message to ABS-CBN, AGB Nielsen General Manager Maya Reforma said the company will issue a statement when it receives a copy of the complaint.

Tin added that despite the lawsuit, ABS-CBN would still be interested in using AGB Nielsen Media ratings results: 'It's not in our interest to stop using them. We just want them to guarantee that the data that are being used are correct.'

AGB Nielsen Media Research is the result of a joint venture agreement in 2004 between the AGB Group and Nielsen Media Research International. Its home page is at www.agbnielsen.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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