• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 15, 2021

Scott Brown, the head of Nielsen's audience measurement product, is leaving to join Experian, MediaPost has learned.

The move comes as Nielsen is grappling with a variety of new challenges, including charges from the TV industry that the quality of its ratings samples have deteriorated during the pandemic, because Nielsen technicians and reps have had a more difficult time gaining access to panelists' homes.

It also comes as Nielsen is losing another senior audience measurement executive, Kelly Abcarian, who is leaving to join Roku, as part of a deal spinning off Nielsen's advanced TV measurement service to Roku.

Brown, who joined Nielsen in 2009 from KPMG, has served as Nielsen head of product-audience measurement for the past two years. He previously was its CTO and head of product development for the researcher, which increasingly has had to develop technological solutions to measure media audiences as the technology of media changes.

He is said to be joining Experian in a similar capacity, heading its technology and measurement services.

While Nielsen is not expected to announce an explicit succession plan anytime soon, company insiders note that they have an ample "bench" of senior audience measurement and technology executives to draw from. And there's always the possibility it will recruit from the outside.

“Nielsen prides itself on our talented, skilled and engaged people," Nielsen said in a statement provided by a company spokesperson, adding: "These individuals not only contribute to Nielsen but often continue this leadership trajectory beyond our company and throughout the industry.

Nielsen has a strong bench of talented leaders with deep knowledge and expertise, and we have tapped them to lead these critical businesses.

We remain excited by and are committed to our aggressive roadmap for measuring outcomes and executing our vision for Nielsen One, which will give the industry a standardized single, cross-media currency by a trusted and independent provider.”