Philippines Case Dismissed

In the Philippines, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) has dismissed the 'ratings cheat' case brought by television company ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp against ratings firm AGB Nielsen Media Research (AGB), citing the requirement for notice periods in the contract between the two companies.

In December ABS-CBN sued AGB Nielsen for alleged failure to follow up reports of an 'organized, systematic, and well-funded attempt' to bias TV ratings (www.mrweb.com/drno/news7720.htm ); but Judge Charito B. Gonzales of Branch 80 today highlighted ABS-CBN's service contract which gives AGB a minimum of one month to investigate and act on queries about its data quality and validity, and another period of three months to address the issues raised. The judge said the contract, 'Not being contrary to law, morals, goods, customs, public order or public policy', constituted the primary law between the parties and must be upheld. The court added that given AGB's duty to investigate such complaints thoroughly and not act solely on the evidence of one party, 'it cannot be concluded that AGB Nielsen neglected its duty under the service contract to resolve and address the problem. ABS-CBN's resort to court is therefore premature.'

AGB general manager Maya Reforma in a statement said: 'AGB Nielsen is grateful to Judge Gonzales for upholding the pertinent provision on our contract with ABS-CBN that seeks to continue to ensure the integrity of our data and the survey processes.'

ABS-CBN said it will file a motion for reconsideration as the dismissal was based on 'a mere technicality', adding that 'The public will not be denied the truth' and 'The fight for a clean and fair TV ratings process is a crusade that ABS-CBN will continue.'

GMA Network Inc., a rival of ABS-CBN whom the latter had linked to the attempt to 'cheat', said in a statement that it 'welcomed the court's decision favoring AGB.' GMA has recently filed its own civil libel suit against ABS-CBN over the TV and radio broadcasting of public statements 'damaging to GMA's reputation'.

Web sites: www.abs-cbnnews.com and 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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