Nielsen, DIRECTV Partner to Measure Interactive Viewing Behavior

NEW YORK, February 14: DIRECTV and The Nielsen Company are
working together to develop a new system for measuring the usage of interactive
television services.

Nielsen will use aggregated and anonymous clickstream data
from a new television measurement panel of 300,000 DIRECTV interactive
customers.

"As the DIRECTV interactive TV space continues to
rapidly evolve, we need to develop a complete and accurate understanding of how
our customers use these services," said Eric Shanks, the executive VP of
DIRECTV Entertainment. "Through our test with Nielsen we hope to develop
the usage information our programming and advertising partners need to take
full advantage of our interactive platform and reach their target audiences in
a truly unique way."

The agreement is the first of its kind to be announced since
the creation of Nielsen DigitalPlus, a new service created by Nielsen to help
clients better understand information opportunities available through consumer
interaction via digital set top boxes.

"This agreement with DIRECTV is an exciting new
opportunity to gain valuable insight into how new technology is influencing the
behavior of interactive satellite subscribers," added Scott L Brown, the
VP for Nielsen. "The television industry is at the very beginning of
understanding the uses and applications of expanding digital services. Nielsen
is using our full resources to help clients create valuable new uses for their
digital information."