HR0985 LRB093 22302 MKM 51375 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Nielsen Media Research has a national monopoly on
3 measuring viewership of television shows; and
 
4     WHEREAS, The Nielsen ratings are used to determine the
5 amount that television stations will charge for advertising and
6 to determine what programming content will be offered; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Nielsen Media Research intends to deploy Local
8 People Meters (LPMs), a new technology, in Chicago this summer
9 to rate television shows according to the number of viewers;
10 and
 
11     WHEREAS, The use of LPMs, by Nielsen Media Research's own
12 admission, has resulted in dramatic decline in the number of
13 minority viewers that are counted, as demonstrated by the fact
14 that, in tests of the LPM system in New York, the ratings
15 declined by as much as 62% for virtually every top-rated
16 program among African-Americans, and similar declines were
17 seen for top-rated Spanish language networks, while
18 programming targeted primarily to white audiences saw no such
19 decline; and
 
20     WHEREAS, Nielsen Media Research initially delayed the
21 deployment of LPMs in New York based on complaints about the
22 undercounting of minorities, but now has refused to delay the
23 deployment of LPMs in Chicago as well as in New York; and
 
24     WHEREAS, Because the LPM system undercounts minority
25 viewers and because the Nielsen ratings are the sole measure of
26 audience for television shows, minority viewers are deprived of
27 an equal say in determining programming content that appeals to
28 them and advertisers are deprived of accurate information;
29 therefore, be it
 

 

 

HR0985 - 2 - LRB093 22302 MKM 51375 r

1     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
3 urge Nielsen Media Research to delay its deployment of LPMs
4 until it has thoroughly investigated and explained the reason
5 for the undercount of minorities and developed and tested new
6 approaches that correct this deficiency; and be it further
 
7     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8 delivered to Nielsen Media Research.