The Media Ratings Council late Thursday responded with stern words to a formal request from Nielsen to enter an MRC accreditation hiatus period for its National Television measurement service.
First, a decision on Nielsen’s request has not yet been made by the MRC. Second, the MRC notes the National TV measurement service is challenged by “deep-rooted, ongoing performance issues.”
The Nielsen request, it is now known, was made in advance of a previously scheduled meeting of the MRC’s Television Committee. That was held Thursday, where the ask was discussed in detail.
As a result of the discussions, the MRC’s Television Committee referred the matter and its recommendations to the full MRC Board of Directors for its consideration. Therefore, a decision on Nielsen’s hiatus request has not been made, and a meeting of the MRC Board will be held in the coming days to consider the TV Committee’s position and to reach a conclusion on the accreditation status of the Nielsen National Television Service.
The MRC notes that an accreditation hiatus status is a formal designation that an accredited service can request. It is, it notes, “designed to exist for a temporary period of time to allow for the service to take certain actions or implement certain service improvements, but to do so outside of the normal MRC audit and accreditation process.”
During this period, the service is not considered to be accredited by MRC.
A hiatus period may last for up to six months, and a service has an option to request a second six-month hiatus. Importantly, the MRC states, “In no case can a hiatus period extend beyond 12 months; if the service does not re-engage in the MRC’s audit and accreditation process by the end of the hiatus period, accreditation of the service will be formally revoked.”
That’s not likely to happen, but the MRC and its Executive Director and CEO, George Ivie, aren’t mincing words. He says, “[I]n addition to those reasons for seeking a hiatus that Nielsen cited in its public statement on this matter, we are compelled to note that the National Television Service has also had some deep-rooted, ongoing performance issues that have threatened its accreditation, many of which pre-dated the well-documented COVID pandemic-related impacts to its panels.”
Because of the “totality and the gravity” of these issues, the MRC believes the matter requires full MRC Board consideration.
Meanwhile, it is now known that Nielsen was previously invited to a meeting of the MRC Television Committee scheduled for next week to address these matters directly with the Committee. This invitation remains in place.
In the months ahead, Nielsen will be making some significant methodology changes to its
National panel processes, and the MRC believes that regardless of its accreditation standing, “Nielsen continues to have a responsibility to provide full transparency to both MRC and to Nielsen’s customers as these changes happen. In addition, the continued threat to panel processes presented by COVID-related impacts remains real, and Nielsen maintains a responsibility to keep MRC and its clients fully informed about any related process changes and impacts that may occur as a result.”
The Media Rating Council is a non-profit industry association established in 1963 comprised of television, radio, print and digital media companies, as well as advertisers, advertising
agencies and trade associations, whose goal is to ensure measurement services that are valid, reliable and effective. Measurement services desiring MRC accreditation are required to disclose to their customers all methodological aspects of their service; comply with the MRC Minimum Standards for Media Rating Research as well as other applicable industry
measurement guidelines; and submit to MRC-designed audits to authenticate and illuminate their procedures. In addition, the MRC membership actively pursues research issues they consider priorities in an effort to improve the quality of research in the marketplace.
At present some 110 research products are audited by the MRC.
