Nielsen Progress on Task Force Changes

Nielsen Media Research has implemented staff training, translation services and other measures recommended by last year's Independent Task Force on Television Measurement. The services are part of a string of measures aimed at better representation of the ethnically and culturally diverse TV audience.

In addition, the company has been making changes closer to home, with the creation of a Diversity Council, comprised of Nielsen employees from diverse backgrounds and chaired by Nielsen's President and CEO Susan Whiting. The Council is drafting a diversity mission statement, and has determined a number of initiatives relating to human capital, leadership commitment, and supplier diversity.
The Task Force was charged with evaluating Nielsen's measurement of African-American, Hispanic/Latino and Asian-American audiences following claims that it under-represented 'people of color'.

Nielsen has now translated all its recruitment materials for sample households into Spanish, developed key recruitment materials in Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Tagalog, and is tailoring its introductory video for Asian audiences. It has also recently added training procedures on cultural sensitivity to its 10-week field training, and has introduced a course on Asian culture.

More generally, the Task Force also recommended finding ways to reduce faults in the TV ratings measurement systems. In response, Nielsen has introduced personal coaching, performance-based incentives, and increases to field staff.

Chair of the Task Force, the Honorable Cardiss Collins was positive about the improvements: 'Nielsen has done a commendable job at moving forward with many of our recommendations. The Task Force believes that the company's implementation of our recommendations will lead to more accurate measurement of diverse racial and ethnic television viewers'.

Whiting stated: 'We have found the Task Force report to be a very helpful resource as we continue to strive for absolute accuracy in measurement during this time of rapid change in both the television industry and its audiences.'

The changes come as Nielsen rebuts claims that its new local people meters under-represent the views of ethnic minorities (as reported last week at www.mrweb.com/drno/news4211.htm ).

Nielsen's Progress Report is at www.everyonecounts.tv/news/documents/0628_progressreport.pdf . NMR's home page 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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