• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 12, 2009

If you're going to endure an economic recession in the media and marketing businesses, it's nice to have your primary source of revenues derived from the research the rest of the industry uses to buy and sell its wares. Nielsen Co., the world's largest provider of media and marketing research, this morning reported only a slight decrease in revenues, despite the languishing effects of the global economic recession. For the third-quarter of 2009, Nielsen said reported revenues fell only 0.8% to $1.25 billion from $1.26 billion in the third-quarter of 2008.

That's far less attrition than the media and marketing industry has been experiencing, according to some of the most recent tracking of U.S. ad spending, including Nielsen's own.

According to Nielsen's most recent tracking data, U.S. ad spending fell 15.4% during the first half of 2009, across the media it measures. Nielsen has not yet released estimates for U.S. ad spending through the third quarter of 2009, but recent estimates from major ad agency holding companies indicate some slight improvement, but that advertising continues to erode at double-digit rates for the overall advertising and media industries.

Nielsen has been somewhat immune from the downturn, of course, because its revenues are derived primarily from research used by media and advertisers to sell their wares. And even if they are selling less of them, or selling them at lower rates, that has little impact on their need to utilize Nielsen's research estimates as the basis of commerce or decision-making.

Nielsen did not break out revenues for specific operating units, but has scheduled a conference call for later this morning to go through that.

On Wednesday, news broke that Nielsen may finally be selling some of its trade magazines, including The Hollywood Reporter and Adweek, which likely have been more of a drag on its overall business than its research enterprises.

Through the first three quarters of 2009, Nielsen said its reported revenues have declined 4% to $3.610 billion vs. the same period in 2008.