News that The Media Rating Council would be suspending
accreditation of Nielsen Holdings’ high-profile national TV ratings service has had little effect on the media research company’s stock price so far.
Through Thursday, Nielsen’s
stock closed virtually flat for the week, down 0.2% to $21.21. The reaction of the MRC decision on Wednesday pushed the stock down slightly, to 1.6%.
This isn’t to say that investors are
not concerned about the research company.
Since May 17, the company’s stock was at $28.10, and has since fallen 25%.
On May 10, the MRC confirmed that persons 18-49 were
“understated” by about 2% to 6% in the Nielsen Total Usage of Television (TUT) metric in February 2021.
About a month before that date, on April 9, the VAB announced there was a
sharp "undercounting of overall TV use" as a result of the lack of Nielsen field maintenance for its 40,000 national TV home panel/sample, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nielsen says field agents
started maintenance chores again beginning in March.
In mid-July, the VAB asked the MRC to pull Nielsen’s accreditation for its national TV rating service.
Year-to-date,
Nielsen's stock price is up a slight 1.7%. During that period, the S&P 500 Index grew 21%.
advertisement
advertisement