MRC Halts Nielsen National and Local TV Accreditation

In the US, the Media Rating Council (MRC) has suspended accreditation of Nielsen's National TV ratings service and also cancelled an agreed hiatus for support of the company's Local Market efforts. The changes will take effect in mid-September.

Last month, Nielsen asked the MRC to pause accreditation of its National TV ratings service, after claims it had underreported data during the pandemic. Previously, the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) had called for the MRC to suspend Nielsen's accreditation, accusing the agency of 'chronic underreporting' for nearly 10,000 homes. Since then, media companies and advertisers have criticized Nielsen, with NBCUniversal recently issuing a request for proposals to third-party firms, with the aim of creating a new system of measurement.

Earlier today, MRC's Board voted in favor of suspending accreditation for Nielsen's National TV ratings service, and to remove the accreditation 'hiatus' status designation for Nielsen's Local People Meters and Set Meter Markets. In a statement, the MRC said Nielsen had been informed of the possibility of a suspension action on August 12th for the National Television service, and on August 20th for the Local Market services. MRC said the decision to end the hiatus status for Local Market accreditation was due to 'continuing issues' with the service, as well as the Board's assessment of Nielsen's ability to add broadband-only households into its Local Market metered panels by October.

Earlier this year, Nielsen acknowledged that some of its audience data had been inaccurate due to a reduction in the size of in-home panel sizes and operational issues created by the pandemic. In response to the MRC decision, a Nielsen spokesperson commented: 'While we are disappointed with this outcome, the suspension will not impact the usability of our data. We are committed to the audit process and during this pause in accreditation we will work with the MRC on resolving this suspension'.

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