• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, March 5, 2013

A New York Court has dismissed a $1 billion law suit by Indian TV network New Delhi Television against Nielsen and WPP and some of their subsidiaries for breach of contract and negligence in connection with a TV ratings service the companies operate in India.

The New York State Supreme Court indicated that New York was an inappropriate venue for the suit, ruling that since the ratings company joint venture run by WPP and Nielsen, known as TAM, is based in India, that’s where the suit should be contested.

Nielsen and WPP said they were pleased with the decision. NDTV indicated it would appeal.

NDTV filed the suit last summer, alleging that the ratings system was highly inaccurate and that over a period of years it lost hundreds of millions in ad revenue as a result. The network said it brought the system’s inadequacies to the attention of Nielsen and WPP with officials at the companies allegedly acknowledging the problems and promising to fix them. But then they didn’t follow through, NDTV alleged, forcing it to sue.

WPP and Nielsen, in separate briefs, asked the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that NDTV’s allegations were unfounded and that in any event the proper venue for the suit was India.