• by David Goetzl , September 10, 2007

An interest group run by a producer of English-language series that target U.S.-born Latinos has ramped up a campaign suggesting that Nielsen is relying on a sample that overrepresents Latinos who were born abroad. That, he reasons, could lead to the Nielsen data giving a lift to programming in Spanish.

Robert G. Rose says Nielsen doesn't know the breakdown of where people are born within the Hispanic segment included in its overall sample, and that does affect whether people watch TV in English or Spanish.

Nielsen says it is able to determine the breakdown between Spanish- and English-speakers in Latino homes--but it does not delve into where individuals were born to avoid discouraging them from participating in its panels.

From Rose's perspective, simply put: The main issue is where Hispanics are born. That could skew ratings more positively toward Spanish-language networks such as Univision, while hurting programmers looking to appeal to bilingual or English-speaking Latinos.

Among those programs are the two nationally syndicated shows produced by Rose's AIM Tell-a-Vision Group.

Rose cites Census data revealing the bulk of Latinos living here were born in the U.S., suggesting most speak English. He refers to that as "the nativity issue," which he thinks Nielsen should endeavor to better reflect in its methodology when determining its ratings.

Called Help! Change TV, Rose pushes his cause through Web site helpchangetv.com site that houses a petition drive targeting Nielsen.

Rose argues that Nielsen's general market sample--which now includes Hispanics and bases its estimates on 12.1 million Hispanic TV homes in the U.S. (11%)--"does not address the nativity issue." His belief is the sample places an inaccurate weight on foreign-born Latinos and hurts programmers like himself--and he wants Nielsen to change its methods in building the sample to better reflect the number of U.S. born Latinos who speak English. (Until this year, Nielsen has used a separate sample to measure Hispanic viewers, known as NHTI, which is now defunct.)

Rose cites Census data that he says shows U.S.-born Latinos make up 65% of the American Latino population--projected to climb to 75% by 2020--and that group "rarely if ever watch Spanish-language TV." This, however, would seem to run counter to some who say foreign-born Latinos are coming to the U.S. in increasing numbers and often don't speak English right away, or take time to do so.

The melding of Hispanic homes into the general market Nielsen sample, Rose says, "still does not address the nativity issue ... which unfortunately remains the biggest obstacle to obtaining more accurate TV ratings for all U.S. Latinos."

A Nielsen representative said in an e-mail: "All our research indicates that language spoken in the home is a far better predictor of television viewing behavior than nativity. We evaluate our models every year to make sure we have the most accurate ratings and are open to looking at additional research that would illuminate this issue. However, above all, we do not want to do anything that would reduce the chance that people would participate in our sample." Questions about place of birth could do so, Nielsen says.

Spanish-language networks, particularly Univision--which bills itself as the fifth broadcast network--are eager to see their ratings, starting this season, shown exclusively side-by-side with the Big 4, under the belief that its performance will bring more ad dollars.

But programs like Rose's English-language syndicated "American Latino TV" (a half-hour show with a pop culture focus) and "LatiNation" (which looks at the impact of Latino culture in the U.S.)--both targeting U.S.-born Latinos--could be hurt due to lukewarm advertiser interest if Nielsen under-represents native-born Latinos, Rose says.

"With all the hype over Latinos being compared to 'side by side' next to the 'general market,' the fact remains that TV ratings for U.S. Hispanics will remain inaccurate until Nielsen adjusts their sample based on nativity, the proven and single most important factor that determines whether Latinos watch TV in Spanish or English," Rose says. Ironically, Rose is a former Univision sales executive, having worked for its New York owned-and-operated station.

Rose's Help! Change TV is in the vein of other interest groups' efforts criticizing Nielsen for under-representing minority segments of the population, notably News Corp.'s "Don't Count Us Out," where the company charged Nielsen's lack of local people meters was under-counting minority viewers. That dispute was settled last year.