ABC TO DROP NIELSEN ON EVE OF NEW TV SEASON

ABC has notified the A.C. Nielsen Co. that it wants to end its agreement with the ratings company effective Aug. 31, just before the beginning of the new television season, the network said Friday.

The third-ranked network’s announcement came just as the ratings service reported that it was set to change its way of measuring a show’s popularity. A prepared statement from ABC, however, said that the decision was made independent of Nielsen’s new plans.

The Nielsen company uses an audiometer, which is attached to the back of television sets, but soon will install People Meters, a system in which viewers push buttons to record what they watch.

CBS said it did not object to the system, but NBC and ABC had said it should be given more study.

The networks pay Nielsen about $3.5 million annually for their daily ratings service. The ratings are used by networks and stations to determine how much they charge for advertising.

Marvin Mord, ABC vice president of marketing and research services, said ABC was terminating the agreement because it wanted to “explore more fully the range of options available for the 1987-88 season.”

Mord’s statement said the network’s conclusion about a new service would be formed on the basis of several comparisons. A new service, Audits of Great Britain, reportedly is one of the groups being considered, but Mord did not rule out the possibility that ABC might even return to Nielsen.