Nielsen Media Buys Television Register New Zealand

Nielsen Media Research Expands Creative Monitoring Offering with Acquisition of Television Register New Zealand

Auckland, 17 December 2003 - Nielsen Media Research today announced that it had signed an agreement to purchase the advertising and news monitoring business, The Television Register and Media Watch, in New Zealand.

The acquisition will allow Nielsen Media Research to offer its clients Television Register and Media Watch research services, and further complements the company's advertising information (AIS) creative services offering in New Zealand.

The Television Register monitors advertising creative across TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and outdoor, and Media Watch is a news monitoring service that provides transcripts and copies of television news items.

"The combination of the Television Register and our existing Media services will allow us to offer a convenient 'one stop media shop' for our clients," commented Nick Jones, Executive Director, Nielsen Media Research Asia Pacific.

"The acquisition will allow us to expand our television creative offering to include creative for newspapers, magazines, outdoor and radio, and allows our clients to better understand where, how often and what their competitors are advertising. With the inclusion of Media Watch providing news monitoring, we can now complete the communications circle".

"We are totally committed to investing in services that provide wider coverage, make access faster and retain the level of service delivery that our clients are requiring from media research," Jones said.

"Bringing this creative communications coverage to our wider Media services and combining with our ACNielsen research services provides our clients with an unprecedented depth and range of information to meet the dynamic service developments of our clients," added Jones.

"I am also delighted to announce that as part of the acquisition, Janet Lee Martin will join the Nielsen Media Research team as Senior Manager, Creative Services. As the current General Manager of the Television Register and Media Watch, Janet's knowledge of the New Zealand creative business will be invaluable to us and I am sure her clients will be very pleased to continue to be able to work with her," Jones said.

About Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research is the world leader in international media research and analysis. The company is active in 40 markets, offering television and radio audience measurement, advertising information services, print readership and customized media research Nielsen Media Research measures advertising expenditures and creative content in 30 of the world's leading advertising markets. Through a network of affiliates, coverage is extended to more than 70 countries, representing 85% of the world's advertising spending.

Nielsen Media Research is part of the VNU Media Measurement & Information Group, the global leader in information services for the media and entertainment industries. The Group serves the information and marketing needs of the television and radio broadcasters, advertisers, agencies, media planners, music companies, publishers, motion-picture studios, distributors and exhibitors, and the Internet industry. The Media Measurement & Information Group is part of VNU, one of the world's leading media and information companies. VNU employs more than 38,000 people and has annual revenues of more than EUR 4.3 billion. For further information, visit www.vnu.com

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