Glover Park Group Admits Creating Don't Count Us Out for News Corp.

Glover Park Group Admits Creating Don't Count Us Out for News Corp.

Shows that DCUO was Never an Independent Organization

Reveals Campaign to Disrupt Nielsen's Operations

NEW YORK, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen Media Research today issued the following statement in response to the disclosure about the relationships among Don't Count Us Out, News Corp., and the Glover Park Group political lobbying firm:

The Glover Park Group is admitting for the first time that it created, organized and directed the activities of the Don't Count Us Out organization at the behest of News Corp. Don't Count Us Out has always maintained that it was an independent group of community activists. However, this admission, which is found on Glover Park's own website as a "case study" to attract more clients, clearly shows that it was always acting to advance the corporate interests of News Corp. and its TV stations, which experienced lower ratings after Nielsen replaced paper diaries with more accurate electronic Local People Meters in major television markets.

Glover Park Group also admitted directing a campaign to disrupt Nielsen's operations in which "calls and e-mails were targeted at Nielsen executives, shutting down their corporate switchboard."

Glover Park does not describe what incentives were used to "enlist" members to the Don't Count Us Out coalition.

Glover Park does admit, however, to implementing a "legislative strategy ... targeting key Senators and Congressmen." Glover Park also maintains that the Senate Commerce Committee is considering legislation that would regulate the ratings business when, in fact, no such legislation is pending.

The text of the language on the Glover Park Group site, is as follows:

Nielsen Media Research was set to launch a controversial new television rating system. Strong evidence suggested that the new system could undercount African Americans and Hispanics, as well as younger viewers -- and in doing so, severely penalize networks like FOX and UPN that tailor their content to these audiences. FOX parent-company Newscorp turned to the Glover Park Group to devise a campaign to fight back. GPG enlisted community activists and organizations across the country in the Don't Count Us Out coalition. The coalition launched a grassroots campaign, including public protests and rallies; television, radio and print ads were run in both in affected markets and inside the Beltway; calls and e-mails were targeted at Nielsen executives, shutting down their corporate switchboard; and a legislative strategy was implemented targeting key Senators and Congressmen. As a result, Nielsen was forced to delay the roll out of the new system in New York City and currently the Senate Commerce Committee is considering legislation that would, for the first time, mandate government regulation of the Nielsen monopoly.

The URL for the full text first appeared at: http://www.gloverparkgroup.com/content/casestudies/casestudies_count.shtml

In anticipation that Glover Park Group will remove this text from its site, it has been preserved at:

http://everyonecounts.tv/news/0422_dcuo.htm

CONTACT: Jack Loftus (646) 654-8360

Source: Nielsen Media Research

CONTACT: Jack Loftus, +1-646-654-8360, for Nielsen Media Research

Web site: http://everyonecounts.tv/news/0422_dcuo.htm http://www.gloverparkgroup.com/content/casestudies/casestudies_count.shtml

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