Nielsen Regains MRC Accreditation for National TV Audience Measurement Service

Nielsen
(Image credit: Nielsen)

NEW YORK—Nielsen has regained accreditation from Media Rating Council (MRC) for its National TV Audience Measurement service, once again becoming the only TV audience measurement provider to be accredited by the MRC, the company reported.

Nielsen lost accreditation during the pandemic. Its local ratings and the new Nielsen One service remain unaccredited. 

The problems also highlighted widespread industry discontent with existing ratings and measurement systems that have led to many major media companies experimenting with other approaches. 

Following the November 2022 audit of Nielsen's National TV Audience Measurement service, the MRC engaged independent auditors to review Nielsen's progress against identified non-compliance areas and their report indicated compliance with industry standards, Nielsen said. 

"As the industry demands measurement that is trusted, independent and founded on real viewing from real people, we continue to support the MRC guidelines that set the standard for quality, audited measurement," said Karthik Rao, CEO, Audience Measurement at Nielsen. "It's our daily mission to maintain our methodologies at the highest standard so that our clients can trade with confidence well into the future. We thank our clients for their trust and for pushing us to get better. At Nielsen, we believe the accreditation process has made us stronger as we've evolved our panel strategy and quality measures, and inspired new automation technologies and approaches to ensure that our service remains consistent and reliable."

George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.