Nielsen will reissue a trio of ratings reports for the Bakersfield, CA market after it discovered that someone in a household of a staff member at regional Mexican “Que Buena 105.7” KQMX obtained and returned diaries detailing their supposed radio listening. Those diaries were included in the in-tab sample for the November, December and January Bakersfield market reports. The fix will be each month’s ratings will be reissued Friday (March 24). Nielsen will also reissue the Fall 2022 Nationwide Summary Dataset with the media-affiliated person’s household listening data excluded from the sample.
Nielsen is not revealing how it became aware diaries from a media-affiliated household were discovered. What impact, if any, the diaries had on KQMX’s ratings numbers is also unknown. The De Alba Family Trust-owned station does not subscribe to the service, so Nielsen does not make its ratings public. However, Nielsen’s rules for subscribers are clear. They prohibit participation in its ratings surveys by any household associated with a radio station. “Users of any Nielsen report can be confident that Nielsen has made every effort to ensure the integrity of the published estimates,” it said in an alert to customers.
Nielsen’s Rating Distortion policy says the company has the option of delisting a station from the book if it discovers employees obtained and returned diaries. But KQMX will be given another chance. Nielsen says it has decided not to delist the station from the reissued reports, but says if the station is found to be in violation of the rules in the future, it would be delisted.
The notice from Nielsen to broadcasters also reminds them of what they should do if a station employee is contacted by Nielsen to participate in any audience measurement survey. Nielsen says they should contact a client service representative right away. Any diaries or other material sent should also be kept until Nielsen says how it wants them disposed of.