Nielsen Running Two Systems in NYC

From today (June 3rd), Nielsen Media Research is offering Local People Meter (LPM) data in New York. The new system will run in parallel with the old Meter/Diary system for a transition period of three months, with either set of data allowed for commercial use.

The original launch date, April 8th, was moved back after major user News Corp raised doubts about how representative the new system was and other high profile figures / groups joined in the debate (see www.mrweb.com/drno/news3013.htm , www.mrweb.com/drno/news3062.htm and www.mrweb.com/drno/news3091.htm for previous instalments of this story). In the last 2 months, Nielsen says it has worked with 'nearly 100 representatives of African American and Latino communities, the media and members of the television industry' to allay the concerns raised.

The New York LPM sample was already nearly 50% larger than that of the Meter/Diary system, with 50% more African American and Latino households. Nielsen has also improved incentivisation and recruitment methods 'to encourage greater participation among people of color', and has built a diverse staff of field representatives that includes African Americans, English-speaking and Spanish speaking Latinos, Chinese-Americans, Korean-Americans and Vietnamese-Americans.

Nielsen says that recent analysis of March LPM data reveals that the service more accurately tracks the changing viewing patterns of all television audiences, shows that African Americans and Latinos watch a wider array of programs than are recorded in diaries, and demonstrates their greater impact on the entire television schedule.

Nielsen will be meeting with the Media Rating Council to discuss technical questions that were raised during the process of accrediting the New York LPM system - the company emphasises that such discussions are a development from discussions held over other introductions in the past, rather than a new departure, and that the points raised in the recent MRC audit of New York's LPM System caused a delay only, rather than constituting a rejection or 'denial'.

Susan D. Whiting, President and CEO of Nielsen Media Research, said: 'We believe the Local People Meter (LPM) system in New York is far superior to the Meter/Diary system. Even given any questions raised about the People Meter implementation, electronic LPMs are more accurate and more reflective of the community than any other data collection system in use'.

The company's web site is at www.nielsenmedia.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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