• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, May 1, 2009

In a surprise move, Sunbeam Television Corp., owner of Miami Fox TV station affiliate WSVN, Thursday filed suite in a federal court charging Nielsen Co. violated federal and state of Florida antitrust laws, as well as unfair trade practices. The suit, which seeks both monetary damages, as well as an injunction against Nielsen's new local people meter system in the Miami marketplace, alleges Nielsen has used monopoly position in the TV ratings business to thwart competition, and has introduced a new, faulty ratings method in the market that is costing WSVN millions of dollars in lost advertising revenues.

The timing of the suit is ironic, because it comes years after Nielsen dealt with, and ostensibly addressed the concerns of an aggressive lobbying and media campaign brought against it by News Corp.-backed Don't Count Us Out, which also charged that Nielsen's rollout of people meters in local markets was a step backwards in its research methods, and one that particularly hurt the representation of minority viewers in its local TV ratings estimates. Nielsen organized a task force and took steps that have long since addressed those criticisms, and continues to focus on improving the representation of minority viewers in both its national and local people meter systems, and its people meter methodology is generally considered far superior to the paper diary method it previously used in those markets, but Sunbeam had challenged the rollout of people meters in Miami, and its ratings standing has suffered considerably since they have been deployed.

"This case is utterly without merit," a Nielsen spokesman said in a prepared statement. "The TV ratings we are providing to Miami are more accurate than any previous measurement of this market and our sample is representative of the Miami population.

"We believe that WSVN had other reasons for bringing this case than the ones stated in the complaint and we will be responding to it vigorously."

The suit is the second one filed against Nielsen over charges that its local people meters inaccurately represented minority viewers, costing local TV broadcasters who sell advertising aimed at them. In 2004, Spanish-language TV giant Univision sued to block Nielsen's rollout of people meters in Los Angeles, but Nielsen won that suit, and ultimately worked with Univision to improve the representation of Hispanic viewers in its samples.

It's also the second time someone has filed a federal antitrust suit against Nielsen. In 2005, TV ratings start-up erinMedia filed a federal antitrust suit against Nielsen on ground that Nielsen used anticompetitive and predatory business practices, especially the use of "staggered" contracts with its clients, to thwart competition. A trial date had been set for that case, but erinMedia and Nielsen ultimately settled out of court and the terms of that settlement have never been disclosed.

"I am excited to hear an industry insider - a Nielsen customer, and not just a competitor - has exhibited the courage to stand up for change. I am concerned, however, that their press release may be a bit delusional, when it states that Sunbeam is "... seeking to restore competition in the market for TV ratings," Frank Maggio, founder of Maggio Media Research, and head of former head of erinMedia, which ceased operations in December 2008, following his settlement with Nielsen in March 2008.

"There has not been true competition in TV ratings industry for over a decade, and when there was competition (briefly, with Arbitron), it ended with one competitor moving on to monopolize radio, and the other, TV ratings. The TV ratings industry desperately needs people like [Sunbeam chief] Ed Ansin to sound the battle cry, but his success will rely entirely on adopting the proper strategy, and more importantly, aligning with a majority of the Nielsen customer base, to implement true competition. It will also require punitive measures (such as excluding Nielsen from competing in several segments of a ratings industry, that is broken up into segments, ala Ma Bell). "

Maggio offers more of his personal views on Sunbeam v. Nielsen in a post on today's edition of MediaPost's TV Board.

Sunbeam's Ansin declined a request to be interviewed by MediaDailyNews, and Nielsen executives declined to comment beyond the company's statement.