More Support for New Nielsen System

Following recent endorsement by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Neilsen's controversial Local People Meters (LPMs) have received further support from Kweisi Mfume, President and CEO of the NAACP, who describes the new system as 'a vastly improved way of measuring television viewership'.

The leader of the NAACP (The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People) wrote to Nielsen President and CEO Susan Whiting that after 'much reflection and personal investigation' he had decided to support the LPM system. 'It is essential that African Americans, Latinos and others are accurately counted. It is only through a fair count that networks will be further convinced to air substantive programs that are of special interest to ever-growing minority audiences... I believe that the LPM system will better measure the broader television audience and therefore can be an effective tool in promoting greater diversity in the programming produced by the television industry'.

Whiting said Nielsen was grateful for the time Mr Mfume had spent studying the system and for his 'willingness to stand up for what he believes'.

In the United States, Nielsen's National People Meter service provides audience estimates for all national program sources, including broadcast networks, cable networks, Spanish language networks, and national syndicators. Local ratings estimates are produced for television stations, regional cable networks, MSOs, cable interconnects, and Spanish language stations in each of the 210 television markets in the U.S., including electronic metered service in 56 markets.

Nielsen Media Research is part of VNU Media Measurement & Information, and is online at www.nielsenmedia.com . More specific information about LPMs is available at www.everyonecounts.tv

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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