The US FTC challenges a merger in the market for audience measurement services (Nielsen / Arbitron)

Background On December 18, 2012, Nielsen announced a $1.26 billion deal to acquire Arbitron. Both firms offer a variety of audience measurement services, which help advertisers and media companies estimate how many people tune-in to particular media content and the demographics of those individuals. Advertisers use this data to help guide their ad placement decisions, and media firms rely on the ratings to value their advertising slots. While Nielsen and Arbitron both offer ratings products, Nielsen has historically specialized in television ratings while Arbitron is best known for its radio ratings service. Upon announcing the deal, Nielsen’s CEO said it would help the firm “better solve for unmeasured areas of media consumption, including streaming audio and out-of-home” [1]. Nine