Judge Denies Nielsen's Motion to Dismiss Sunbeam Suit

Legal spat over Local People Meters in Miami rages on

By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/5/2010 4:28:05 PM

Sunbeam Television's lawsuit against Nielsen Media Research, filed in April 2009 and alleging that Nielsen had a monopoly and grossly undercounted viewership, has survived an effort by Nielsen to have the suit dismissed. Judge Paul C. Huck of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has ordered Nielsen to file "an answer to the second amended complaint" by March 25.

Sunbeam is suing Nielsen for violation of the federal and state antitrust laws, violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and breach of contract. The court had rejected another Nielsen motion to dismiss earlier this year.

Sunbeam owns WSVN Miami and WHDH-WLVI Boston. Miami officially switched on the Local People Meters (LPMs) in October 2008. Station executives frequently bemoan the arrival of LPMs, but rarely sue Nielsen; Ansin told B&C that the new ratings measurement decimated WSVN's viewership-and revenue.

"We lost half our young audience when Nielsen introduced Local People Meters," he said last year. "We haven't been able to get them back since."

When it leveled the suit last spring, Sunbeam said "television stations such as WSVN are left with no choice but to purchase Nielsen's ratings in order to market air time to advertisers. Sunbeam alleges that Nielsen has abused its monopoly position by charging artificially high prices, offering inferior and flawed ratings services in a take-it-or-leave-it basis, and engaging in exclusionary tactics to prevent competitors from gaining a foothold in the industry."

"The judge in this case has repeatedly expressed his concern as to the merits of Sunbeam's claims," said a Nielsen statement. "We look forward to proving that Sunbeam's claims, are, in fact, completely without merit."

Sunbeam is owned by Ed Ansin.