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Fox’s Miami Affiliate Sues Nielsen

Apr 30, 2009  •  Post A Comment

The owner of Fox’s Miami affiliate television station sued Nielsen Media Service, alleging that the ratings service violated antitrust laws while providing flawed data that costs the TV station about $12 million a year in advertising revenue and devalues the station by at least $100 million.
Sunbeam Television Corp., which owns WSVN-TV in Miami, accused Nielsen of abusing its monopoly position among audience-measurement firms by overcharging for its services while jeopardizing the TV station’s advertising efforts by underreporting ratings in ethnically diverse areas such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale, the company said in a statement today.
Nielsen officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The television station specifically takes issue with Nielsen’s newer Local People Meter service, which it says replaced the more accurate Meter-Diary service in October. Ratings for WSVN-TV’s 10 p.m. newscasts fell 50% after the new service was implemented, while “American Idol” ratings fell about 40% after Local People Meters started being used, Sunbeam said in its filing to the Florida’s southern U.S. district court.
Such underreporting of ratings costs the television station about $1 a month in advertising sales and cuts its “going concern” value by at least $100 million, Sunbeam said in the filing.
“Nielsen’s imposition of the Local People Meters in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market has been an unmitigated disaster for its broadcast television customers there,” Sunbeam said in the filing. “From the outset, Nielsen’s LPMs produced defective, wildly inaccurate ratings data which, literally overnight, created havoc in the market.”
Nielsen, the only ratings service in the area, also boosted rates it charges WSVN-TV by 20% last year, Sunbeam said in the filing.

34 Comments

  1. Since Sunbeam admits the Nielsen LPM ratings “created havoc in the market” starting in October, one has to wonder why it took this long to file suit. Furthermore, if Sunbeam had done its homework leading up to the launch, it should have known the marketplace would change.
    Nielsen charges what it charges and stations appear to be willing to pay these fees. What’s the answer? Just say, No. As long as stations follow each other like lemmings and continue to do the Nielsen dance, this situation will not change.
    One station suing Nielsen? Dumb idea. Getting the whole market to play, too? Maybe. Share the pain, share the costs.

  2. Amen, Ansin!
    About time somebody took them on.
    Their numbers are overly skewed toward suburban cable viewers, it’s not even funny.

  3. Nielsen does go above and beyond to have a whole spectrum of homes from filthy rich to slums that are overrun with roaches….so don’t play the demographic card and talk about things you don’t know.
    Now, Nielsen’s AP meter which has gradually come on line in the last few years has so many flaws in it, it is amazing that they are still in business, thus giving the suit some merit.

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