Karthik Rao succeeds David Kenny at the top of the ratings firm as competition grows and measurement grows more complex.
How did the simple act of counting TV viewers become so controversial? David Kenny thinks he knows. The CEO of Nielsen has been under fire for months, ever since some of his company’s biggest customers — the nation’s TV networks — began to complain about how Nielsen tabulated viewers during the coronavirus pandemic. They are still complaining. And Nielsen faces a host of upstart rivals with whom the networks are striking new measurement deals. But Kenny says he isn’t letting their maneuvering get in the way of Nielsen’s future.
Nielsen CEO David Kenny’s total compensation for 2021 was $13.8 million, up 29% from the previous year, according to Nielsen’s proxy statement, released Tuesday. Kenny took a pay cut in 2020, a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic affected most businesses. Kenny received $12.9 million in compensation during 2019.
Nielsen, under fire from media companies and a raft of competitors, said its new measurement system Nielsen One is on track, with the rollout of some parts being accelerated. “We are executing as planned, as committed on Nielsen One,” said Nielsen CEO David Kenny Monday during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
In a letter sent today to advertisers, agencies, broadcasters and others in the media industry, David Kenny CEO of the firm, which in August had its national and local TV panels lose their third-party accreditation, promised to accelerate the rollout of Nielsen One, the company’s forthcoming cross-platform measurement tool that aims to solve some of the industry’s most nagging measurement problems — but is not projected to be fully implemented until 2024.
