Nielsen to Scrap Disputed Portion of L.A. TV Ratings

In an unprecedented action, A. C. Nielsen Co. has decided to strike out a portion of its May audience-ratings “sweeps” results for the Los Angeles area because of a controversial, eight-part news segment that competitors said unfairly boosted KABC Channel 7’s rating score, it was learned Wednesday.

The step represents a major embarrassment and a financial setback for KABC, which scored a top rating for its 11 p.m. “Eyewitness News” with a series of reports on Nielsen’s “families”--the few, specially selected viewers whose TV-watching habits form the basis of the company’s TV ratings. Nielsen ratings are considered the broadcast industry bible in setting rates for advertising.

Competitors had complained that KABC’s news segments represented a manipulation of the ratings process because their subject made them an irresistible lure for the Nielsen families.

Nielsen would not comment officially, but competitors said Wednesday that they were notified that the company plans to eliminate from its records the ratings for all Los Angeles-area television stations during the half-hour between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. on the eight days that KABC broadcast the news special.

That step would leave KABC and KNBC Channel 4 tied in ratings for that period with an 8.9 rating, followed by KCBS Channel 2, with 7.2 rating, according to KCBS calculations. Each rating point represents the viewing of about 45,000 households.

If the 11 o’clock rating period had not been eliminated, KABC’s rating would have been an impressive 10.5. Advertisers rely on the ratings figures to determine how much they will spend to buy a station’s advertising time, so the elimination of the eight-day ratings period may cost KABC millions in lost ad revenues, according to industry sources.

KABC was the overall ratings leader during the May sweeps and remains the leader in news shows during other time periods. Sweeps are four yearly periods when the ratings companies compile ratings for local stations. Network ratings are compiled weekly.

Nielsen’s decision was promptly hailed by KABC’s competitors, who have long complained that the station has tried to manipulate the ratings system in order to gain an advantage.

John Rohrbeck, KNBC general manager and vice president, said he was “very pleased” that Nielsen would take the step “in response to KABC’s intentional and devious attempt to manipulate the 11 p.m. ratings.”

“KABC for years has been known throughout our industry as a station that will sacrifice almost anything--including their news integrity--for a tenth of a rating point,” he said.

Neil Walden, director of audience measurement for the CBS Broadcast Group, said the step was necessary to prevent KABC from continuing “to engage in a kind of creative manipulation of the ratings systems like no other station.” CBS, which owns KCBS, threatened to sue Nielsen and to stop paying for the ratings company’s service if Nielsen did not take an adequate corrective action.

John Severino, KABC general manager, said the station has not been officially notified of Nielsen’s decision, noting that KABC still has the option of suing the ratings company.

He said his competitors’ criticisms have been “born of frustration . . . because KABC continues to be the No. 1 source of news and information here in Southern California.”

Arbitron Ratings Co., the second major ratings service, is expected to announce today how it will respond to the complaints about the series.

The eight-part series, which was heavily promoted, featured interviews with a former Nielsen family that lives in Laguna Beach and with John Holt, chairman and chief executive of the research firm.

Nielsen rules prohibit any on-air mention of the ratings process during the “sweeps” to avoid attracting undue attention that might taint the ratings results. Even though Holt apparently did not know his interview would be broadcast during a sweeps period, his appearance on the special was an embarrassment to Nielsen and may have figured into the company’s decision to remove the ratings figures.

If the ratings were allowed to stand, KABC’s competitors might have sued Nielsen for the company’s part in an activity that violated their contract with ratings company, and hurt the broadcasters financially.

“I think people here feel we may be partly to blame,” said one Nielsen official in New York. “We could be up against the wall on that point.”

Nielsen’s action comes as concern has recently risen in the broadcast business about manipulations of the ratings process. Complaints about such willful distortions have risen steadily in recent years, partly because of growing competition in many markets and also because stations have come to believe that there is little penalty for trying stunts that improve their audience-share figures.

Nielsen usually responds to complaints about alleged manipulations by simply noting in the ratings books distributed to clients that a station’s activity might have affected the ratings. But many in the industry assert that advertisers and their ad agency representatives attach little weight to such caveats.