ABS-CBN seeks TRO, files suit versus AGB-Nielsen over erroneous ratings

ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. filed on Friday a civil suit against AGB-Nielsen Media Research Philippines for continuing to release nationwide TV ratings despite reports that the meters installed in some households across the country may have been tampered.

In a hastily-called press briefing yesterday, ABS-CBN vice-president for research Vivian Tin said the company is seeking P63 million in damages and the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing AGB-Nielsen from releasing “erroneous” data even as the media giant continues to lead in the nationwide rating survey.

The complaint stemned from an informant’s revelation  that he was hired to locate and bribe metered households in Bacolod to change the programs they are watching. The informant said they would offer cash or groceries in exchange for switching the programs they are watching.

According to Tin, this practice has been going on for two years. “Each member of the household in a panel is instructed to push the button assigned to their name everytime he or she is watching TV.  The meter attached to the TV is designed to identify the channel to which the TV is on,” Tin said.

She said the information provided by the informant has been verified to be true. 

“This is a big disservice to us.  We cannot be assured that a similar thing is not happening in the rest of the country,” Tin said.

To come up with TV ratings, a research agency will set up a panel of homes that are randomly sampled to represent the viewing behavior of homes in the areas that are covered by the study.

“Thus any attempt to unnaturally influence the behavior of members of the panel like giving them incentives to entice them to watch programs they do not really want to watch will render a panel unrepresentative. This means the panel will no longer reflect the viewing of all people in general,” Tin said.

She also explained that the disinformation leads advertisers to make wrong decisions about where to place their advertising and could be damaging to the business of advertisers.

Given the impact it has to the decisions of networks and advertisers, ABS-CBN has demanded that AGB-Nielsen Media Research shut down its service and investigate the degree to which their panel has been breached.

“We asked that they resume their service only after they can fully assure their clients that the panel has been completely cleaned,” Tin said.

For his part, ABS-CBN chairman and president Eugenio Lopez said : “We regret to bring this matter to the public. But the Filipino public and the whole media industry deserve to know the truth. We in ABS-CBN have discovered what can only be viewed as a systematic, organized, and well funded attempt to cheat in the ratings.”

“We know we may be questioned by some and accused of lying by others.  In the end, our decision was to do the right thing. Just tell the truth. And now, we are informing you, the public, because you need to know, and because, in the end, we answer to you,“ he added.