Court Freezes Nielsen's Radio Ratings Policy in Antitrust Fight

A New York federal court granted Cumulus Media a preliminary injunction against Nielsen, blocking a policy that Cumulus claims illegally ties national and local ratings data. The news, which dropped late on New Year's Eve.

• Tied up in court: The lawsuit accuses Nielsen of abusing its monopoly by forcing national networks like Cumulus’s Westwood One to buy its local measurement data, even in markets where they prefer a competitor. The policy effectively freezes out other local ratings providers, according to the complaint.

• Power and price check: In the court order, Judge Jeannette A. Vargas found Cumulus has a "strong likelihood of succeeding on the merits." The injunction prohibits Nielsen from charging a "commercially unreasonable rate" for its standalone national data and sets a "presumptively reasonable" price cap for the duration of the lawsuit.

The judge's full legal opinion is sealed for now, but the preliminary order directly checks Nielsen's market power and pricing tactics, potentially reshaping the broadcast ratings industry. For a deeper dive, the original court filings are available through legal tracking sites like PacerMonitor.