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BAD DATA? Nielsen Sued for Billions Over Allegedly Manipulated TV Ratings
In
a huge new lawsuit, the business of TV ratings is fingered for rampant corruption by India's largest TV news network.
In a 194-page lawsuit filed in New York court late
last week, NDTV accuses Nielsen of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by manipulating viewership data in favor of
channels that are willing to provide bribes to its officials.
According to NDTV, rampant manipulation of viewership
data has been going on for eight years, and when presented with evidence earlier this year, top executives at Nielsen pledged
to make changes. But the Indian news giant says these promises have been false ones.
The Indian company is now seeking billions of dollars
in damages from Nielsen, looking to punish its top corporate officers and demanding that Nielsen essentially be kicked out
of the country.
The lawsuit contains merely allegations
against the venerable ratings research company that operates in more than 100 countries, earns more than $5 billion a year
and has been around since 1923...the
complaint ...suggests that similar bad activity is happening elsewhere -- in Florida, Turkey and the Philippines...
Lying Libor Is Nothing Compared to China's Fake GDP: Report
"A fake Libor rate, the scandal involving global
benchmark interest rates that has raised the level of distrust in major banks and markets, is nothing compared to the damage
that could be done if China’s true economic growth figures were revealed."...“More and more investors are starting
to question the Chinese math on GDP.”
"Annual
gross domestic product came in at 7.6 percent in the second quarter, according to China’s government on July 13th. The
report was better than investors expected...But slowing imports and industrial production, as well as harder-to-fudge electricity
usage data, points to much slower growth..."
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