Burns introduces bill to regulate Nielsen
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) isn't backing down on his effort to have the federal government regulate Nielsen's TV ratings. He (and, presumably, New Corporation's Washington lobbyists) has even lined up three fellow Republicans as co-sponsors of the "Fairness and Accuracy in Ratings" (FAIR) bill - - George Allen (VA), Olympia Snowe (ME) and Mel Martinez (FL). The bill would make Media Ratings Council accreditation mandatory for TV ratings companies. Currently, that means the bill would only apply to Nielsen Media Research. A hearing on the legislation is set for July 27th.
"We are disappointed that political leaders who espouse free market principles would use the power of the federal government to choose sides in a commercial dispute among private businesses. This bill, which was drafted in cooperation with News Corp., would benefit only those companies who want to maintain the status quo in the television industry. The bill subjects Nielsen Media alone to government control. No other media survey company is impacted," said Nielsen Media Research President and CEO Susan Whiting in an email to TVBR. "Contrary to the claims of its supporters, this bill means more federal regulation of television, more bureaucracy, slower introduction of new technology, higher costs, less competition, and less accurate ratings. It would also violate antitrust laws and transform the Media Rating Council into a virtual arm of the federal government. We have urged the bill's sponsors to reconsider their support of this bill in light of its damaging impact on the entire television industry," she said.
Taking the opposite position is the Don't Count Us Out Coalition, primarily funded by News Corp., which has been pressing claims that Nielsen's Local People Meters undercount minority viewers. "Over the past year, it has become more and more evident that the Media Ratings Council has all the responsibility but lacks the enforcement authority to hold Nielsen accountable for TV ratings accuracy. There is no mandatory system of checks and balances over Nielsen and fault rates in existing markets continue to be disproportionately high nationwide, especially among Latino and African American households," said Cynthia Rotunno, Executive Director of the Coalition.
TVBR observation:
It's no secret where we stand on this issue and if anyone has forgotten - the Gov. stay out as you will cause more harm to a medium that is already if deep trouble. TV needs to get into the new business model and move forward. Other broadcasters need to get busy lobbying their Senators to save Rupert Murdoch from himself.
Adding new government regulation to the TV business cannot have any positive outcome. If this bill becomes law, it will inevitably mean that TV ratings will cost stations more and efforts to improve and modernize technology and methodology will be slowed to a snail's pace by bureaucracy. The FCC is enough of a mess to deal with. Broadcasters need to deal with Nielsen and LPM within the industry. If the Burns bill becomes law, you will all regret it for decades to come.
Publisher Note: TV and all executives we at TVBR are speaking as broadcasters not just typing words but broadcasters for broadcasters.
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