Nielsen to Expand Ratings Panel

NEW YORK, September 26: The Nielsen Company has said it will
triple the size of its National People Meter (NPM) television ratings panel by
2011, increasing to 37,000 homes and 100,000 people.

The NPM panel now encompasses
about 12,000 U.S. households and 35,000 people. It will to 37,000 homes and
100,000 people as the company completes the previously announced introduction
of Local People Meters (LPM) into 56 local U.S. markets, and integrates these
sample homes into the NPM. The sample expansion begins this November when three
LPM markets are integrated into the National sample.

"Nielsen is committed to
continuously improving the quality of its television measurement and this
expansion will be a major step forward in the accuracy and the flexibility of our
national television panel," said Sara Erichson, the executive VP of client
services at Nielsen North America. "With a panel of a hundred thousand
people, we can more precisely pinpoint the viewing of all demographic groups
and dig deeper into the audience levels for networks of all sizes."