MRC Grants Accreditation to Nielsen's LPM

In the US, the Media Rating Council (MRC) has given approval to all 25 of Nielsen's Local People Meter (LPM) markets - ten of which had their accreditation renewed, while the remaining fifteen markets were granted accreditation for the first time.

The MRC is a non-profit industry association, which aims to maintain industry confidence and credibility through audience measurement services that are 'valid, reliable and effective'.

Nielsen began introducing its digital TV Active/Passive measurement meter ('A/P meter') in stages several years ago, and finished the process last year when the entire TV industry switched to digital signals. The ratings giant said the MRC's accreditation process was 'long and complex', and that in response to MRC's input it had developed 'The A/P Meter Improvement Program', which includes new initiatives such as a Household CodeCheck, redundant monitoring sites, regular reports on code performance, and identification of low-performing stations.

In addition, Nielsen now produces regular analyses of how signals perform as they are re-transmitted over cable systems, and its 'Nielsen Stream Analysis Tool (NSAT) has been developed to evaluate the transmitted audio signals from stations that switched to digital transmission last year.

As part of the improvement program, Nielsen has also undertaken several projects to identify the sources of 'All Other Tuning' (tuning that is not credited to an identified viewing source).

'The MRC Television Committee, in particular, played a crucial role in helping us develop these initiatives to improve meter quality,' stated Sabrina Crow, Nielsen SVP and MD, Local Client Television Services. 'Today our quality metrics are better than they've ever been.'

Web sites: www.mediaratingcouncil.org and www.nielsen.com .