With the April and May Nielsen Audio PPM ratings to be rereleased due to a compromised panel, Univision has stated that an undisclosed employee at Regional Mexican “LA 101.9” KSCA has been fired for his role in the ratings fraud.
Univision Radio President Jose Valle released the following statement today:
Univision is fully committed to quality data. Nielsen recently reached out to inform us that a media affiliated household had been identified in Los Angeles, and that it was connected to a Univision Radio employee from the KSCA station. This household was separate from and unrelated to the prior problem that Nielsen had identified in connection with the Los Angeles ratings. We commenced an investigation and took immediate action by terminating the employee based on our findings. We are cooperating fully with Nielsen and the MRC to ensure the industry has quality data. A radio station employee being related to a Nielsen participant seriously undermines the industry and is unacceptable. We will continue to cooperate fully and ensure the efficacy of our internal training and compliance programs, which will be ongoing across all Univision stations.
This is potentially the second Los Angeles station to be affected by attempted ratings fraud in the past year. Former “97.9 La Raza” KLAX morning host Ricardo ‘El Mandril’ Sanchez was taken off the air last fall amidst claims of an investigation. Sanchez has since left the SBS owned station for Grupo Radio Centro’s “Radio Centro 93.9” KXOS.
In regards to today’s action by Univision, Nielsen released the following statement:
The behavior of a media affiliated household not self-reporting is a serious violation of data integrity standards.” Nielsen plans to make changes as a result of the L.A. incident, although Nielsen did not specify what those changes would be. “We will be taking a number of actions to minimize the risk of reoccurrence and ensure users of Los Angeles ratings data are adequately and prominently notified. Additionally, Nielsen will be implementing an immediate and aggressive review of our policies and procedures to protect integrity of our panels. We will be transparent with the industry and share our plans as quickly as possible.
The delayed May 2014 PPM ratings for Los Angeles will be released on Tuesday, June 17. Revised data for April 2014 will be released on Thursday, June 19.
i can tell you exactly who got fired.. i’ll give you a clue it was way up in the ladder in management .
I’d rather not engage in speculation or “insider” information. I’m sure the facts will come out as the matter moves forward.