Nielsen Cancels National Client Meeting

Cancels Vegas Meeting

NIELSEN's TV ratings frequently play a role in canceling shows. Now NIELSEN's top show is being canceled due to some declining ratings -- credit ratings, reports JOE MANDESE on MEDIAPOST.COM. A little more than a week after canceling a promising new out-of-home television audience measurement service due to concerns about the "current economic environment," NIELSEN has canceled plans for its annual client meeting in 2009 due to economic concerns.

The event was set to take place MARCH 11th-13th in LAS VEGAS.

In an announcement sent to clients, NIELSEN implied that the economic concerns were more a function of its clients' fiscal situation than the NIELSEN's.

NIELSEN's attribution of client economic concerns is interesting, because the company has traditionally paid all expenses associated with the meetings -- including hotels, dining and entertainment, with the exception of the actual travel costs, which were paid for by individual clients and their employers.

That leads some NIELSEN clients to suspect that at least part of the economic motives behind cancelling the meeting are cost savings for the company, which has been investing in the expansion of other businesses, including internationally and in other media. Just this week, NIELSEN announced the rollout of a radio audience measurement service in the U.S., marking the first time that it will produce radio ratings in this country since the 1960s.

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