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Executive Whose Name Became Synonymous With TV Ratings Dies at 92

Oct 5, 2011  •  Post A Comment

The man who built his father’s company into a firm that’s synonymous with television ratings has died, reports The New York Times’ Bill Carter. Arthur C. Nielsen Jr. was 92.

Nielsen, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, died Monday in Winnetka, Ill., the piece notes.

Nielsen worked for the company his entire adult life, becoming the president of the A.C. Nielsen Company in 1957 and its chairman in 1975. While serving in the Corps of Engineers in World War II, Nielsen realized the importance of computers, and urged the company in 1948 to invest $150,000 in building the first general-purpose computer, called the Univac, the story reports.

His father, Arthur C. Nielsen, remained the company’s entrepreneur and pushed for the creation of the first TV audience measurement system in 1950, the article notes. A.C. Nielsen Jr. was known for institutionalizing his father’s ideas, the piece adds.

One Comment

  1. “Somewhere Satan is dancing tonight”.
    Yes Nancy, and I think it is on Dancing With The “not quite” Stars.

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