Every TV network’s favorite ratings company, Nielsen Media Research, is being sued for billions of dollars for allegedly allowing officials to manipulate ratings data. Before you start writing those emails proclaiming that [insert low-rated show here] should he immediately revived, bear in mind that the lawsuit applies to Nielsen’s India operations.
That does not mean that the lawsuit is any less serious, however. The complainant is New Delhi Television Limited, India’s largest TV network, and it sounds as though Nielsen at one point acknowledged the problem.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s THR Esq. column has details:
According to NDTV, rampant manipulation of viewership data has been going on for eight years, and when presented with evidence earlier this year, top executives at Nielsen pledged to make changes. But the Indian news giant says these promises have been false ones.