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U.S. Born Latinos Missing From Nielsen Sample
New York, NY - (November 9th, 2005)– AIM Tell-A-Vision Group (AIM TV),
the pioneering company producing culturally relevant television for
U.S.-born Latinos announced an initiative to convince Nielsen Media
Research, Inc. to change its current language stratification method of
monitoring U.S. Hispanic viewing. AIM TV contends the current methodology of
Hispanic audience measurement is skewed towards foreign-born Hispanics who
prefer Spanish language television and that a more accurate measurement
weighted by nativity (the location of one's birth, i.e., U.S. Born or
Foreign Born) is needed.
AIM TV claims the impact of Nielsen's outdated statistical model is far
reaching, resulting in little English language television targeted to the
nation's largest minority and fewer roles in general for Latinos in front of
and behind the camera. They cite a recent Screen Actors Guild report on
diversity, where Latinos represented less than 6% of all primetime
characters on TV despite making up over 14% of the population.
AIM TV claims Nielsen's failure to properly monitor U.S. Born television
viewing also costs English language TV outlets (national and local) precious
audience numbers, tens of millions in ad revenue and the growing pool of
marketers targeting U.S. Latinos' valuable market share.
According to recent U.S. Census data, the vast majority of Latinos are U.S.
born (60%) but only make up a small percentage of Spanish TV's audience
(Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, Rincon & Associates, Pew Hispanic Center).
Yet consistently the top Nielsen rated programs for U.S. Hispanics are on
Spanish language television garnering Spanish TV outlets over 90% of
Hispanic targeted TV ad dollars by leading the industry, advertisers and
Wall Street to believe that Latinos prefer Spanish language television.
Nielsen's current methodology uses Language Stratification (e.g., Spanish
Only, Mostly Spanish, English/Spanish Equally, Mostly English and Only
English) and AIM TV states there are substantial issues with this
methodology as indicated by the 2004 Rincon & Associates' Latino Television
Study. AIM TV contends there are several research studies that indicate
language preference is subjective, unreliable and difficult to
measure. Furthermore, this methodology takes Nielsen's Hispanic sample (just over 1,100) and divides it into five smaller, more unstable samples.
AIM TV points to solid *research that confirms that nativity is the number
one factor that determines television viewing patterns of Latinos (Spanish
TV or English TV)*. Latinos born in the U.S. watch mostly English language
TV and foreign born Latinos watch mostly Spanish language TV. Based on this
research, AIM TV contends that Nielsen should weight their sample by
nativity to match U.S. census data (U.S. born 60% / Foreign born 40%),
creating a sample divided into two larger objective sections rather than
five smaller subjective groups.
"Nielsen can accurately pinpoint the number of Mexicans, Peruvians, and
other nationalities in their Hispanic sample. Why can't Nielsen account for
U.S. Born Hispanics, which is by far the most important factor when
determining television viewing habits?" asks Robert G. Rose, CEO of AIM
Tell-A-Vision. "It's a dated, flawed model and it's time Latinos, industry
leaders and researchers demand a change," Rose continued.
AIM Tell-A-Vision is directing people to the website
www.ChangeTheSample.com, which provides
further details, links to research and supporters and allows people to have
their voice heard by signing an online petition to demand Nielsen to CHANGE
THE SAMPLE.
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