Nielsen Holdings
Nielsen Holdings plc is an American media audience measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 15,000 people worldwide.
For most of its history, the company was known for its two subsidiaries, Nielsen Media Research, which was responsible for TV ratings, and AC Nielsen, which was responsible for consumer shopping trends and box-office data. Nielsen Media Research later evolved into Global Media division and the AC Nielsen later evolved into Global Connect division. The company later decided to retain its Global Media division and divested the Global Connect division to private equity firm Advent International in March 2021.
The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and used to be a component of the S&P 500.
History
Formation
Nielsen was founded in 1923 by Arthur C. Nielsen, Sr., who invented an approach to measuring competitive sales results that made the concept of "market share" a practical management tool. The holding company was incorporated in the Netherlands and later was purchased on May 24, 2006, by a consortium of private equity firms.Merger and listing
In January 2011, Nielsen consummated an initial public offering of common stock and, subsequently, started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NLSN". On August 31, 2015, Nielsen N.V., a Dutch public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, merged with Nielsen Holdings plc, by way of a cross-border merger under the European Cross-Border Merger Directive, with Nielsen Holdings plc being the surviving company. The merger effectively changed the place of incorporation of Nielsen's publicly traded parent holding company from the Netherlands to England and Wales, with no changes made to the business being conducted by Nielsen prior to the merger.2021 split and 2022 buyout
On March 5, 2021, Nielsen Holdings announced the completion of sale of Global Connect business to private equity firm Advent International. This transaction effectively turned Nielsen into a pure-play media audience measurement and analytics firm.In March 2022, Nielsen announced that it had accepted a $16 billion offer from a group of private equity investors led by Elliott Investment Management subsidiary Evergreen Coast Capital Corp., and Brookfield Business Partners. The Nielsen board of directors had turned down an initial $9 billion offer from the investment consortium. The transaction was completed in October 2022.
Company information
Nielsen is a global, independent measurement and data company for media business. With a presence in more than 100 countries and services covering more than 90% of the globe's GDP and population, Nielsen provides clients with data about what consumers watch on a global and local basis and how those choices intersect.The company's operations span developing and emerging markets worldwide, in more than 100 countries. According to SEC records, on February 26, 2015, Nielsen N.V., announced that its board of directors unanimously approved a proposal that resulted in a change in the company's legal domicile, from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom. Upon approval, the company became incorporated under English law and was registered as a public limited company to be named Nielsen Holdings PLC.
Up to 2022, James Attwood Jr. was Nielsen's non-executive chairman, who succeeded Dave Calhoun as Executive Chairman in January 2016. Prior to joining Nielsen as CEO in 2006, Dave Calhoun served as Vice Chairman of the General Electric Company and President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Infrastructure, the largest of six GE business units. He served as Nielsen CEO from 2006 to 2014, when he was succeeded by Mitch Barns. Barns joined Nielsen in 1997, and has held various roles in Europe, Asia, and North America leading major parts of the business.
On December 3, 2018, David Kenny was named CEO of Nielsen, succeeding Mitch Barns.
In September 2023, Karthik Rao was named CEO of Nielsen, succeeding David Kenny who became Executive Chairman.
While the Nielsen brand is most often associated with television ratings, those TV rating services comprise approximately one-quarter of the company's business and revenues. After substantial work to simplify the company over the last several years and divestment of NielsenIQ in 2021, Nielsen Holdings aligns its business into media audience measurement and analytics.
Company history
Arthur C. Nielsen and the invention of "Market Share"
founded the AC Nielsen Company in August 1923 with the idea of selling engineering performance surveys. It was the first company to offer market research. The company expanded its business in 1932 by creating a retail index that tracked the flow of food and drug purchases. This was the first retail measurement of its kind and for the first time allowed a company to determine its "share" of the market—the origination of the concept of "market share" Arthur C. Nielsen is credited with coining this business term.Radio and television
In 1936, Arthur C. Nielsen acquired the Audimeter, which measured which radio stations a radio had been tuned to during the day. After tinkering with the device for a few years, the company created a national radio rating service in 1942. The company collected information on which stations radios were tuned to in one thousand homes. Then, this survey data was sold to manufacturers who were interested in the popularity of programs and demographic information about listeners for advertising purposes. This was the birth of audience measurement that would become the most well-known part of Nielsen's business when applied to television. Today, these are commonly referred to as "Nielsen ratings".The company began measuring television audiences in 1950, at a time when the medium was just getting off the ground. Just as with radio, a sampling of homes across the U.S. was used to develop ratings. This information was collected on a device that was attached to a television that recorded what was being watched. In 1953, the company began sending out diaries to a smaller sample of homes within the survey to have them record what they had watched. This data was put together with information from the devices. This combination of data allowed the company to statistically estimate the number of Americans watching TV and the demographic breakdown of viewers. This became an important tool for advertisers and networks.
In the 1980s, the company launched a new measurement device known as the "people meter". The device resembles a remote control with buttons for each individual family member and extras for guests. Viewers push a button to signify when they are in the room and push it again when they leave, even if the TV is still on. This form of measurement was intended to provide a more accurate picture of who was watching and when.
In July 2008, Nielsen released the first in a series of quarterly reports, detailing video and TV usage across the 'three screens' – Television, Internet and Mobile devices. The A2/M2 Three Screen Report also includes trends in timeshifted viewing behavior and its relationship to online video viewing, a demographic breakdown of mobile video viewers and DVR penetration.
On September 30, 2016, Nielsen made its Digital Content Ratings available in full syndication for clients.
On September 9, 2016, Nielsen announced that it would retire its paper TV diaries by mid-2017 and provide all electronic measurement in its local television ratings.