Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

Form 10-K

 

(Mark One)

þ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007

OR

 

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from             to             

Commission file number             

 

 

The Nielsen Company B.V.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

The Netherlands   98-0366864
(State of incorporation)   (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

770 Broadway

New York, New York 10003

(646) 654-5000

 

Ceylonpoort 5

2037 AA Haarlem

The Netherlands

+31 23- 546 3463

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

 

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant: is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  þ

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  þ    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendments to this Form 10-K.  þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer” and “large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer  ¨                Accelerated filer  ¨                Non-accelerated filer  þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  þ

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s voting stock held by nonaffiliates is zero. The registrant is a privately held corporation.

There were 258,463,857 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of March 31, 2008.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

 

 

 


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

Table of Contents

 

               PAGE
PART I      
   Item 1.   

Business

   4
   Item 1A.   

Risk Factors

   18
   Item 1B.   

Unresolved Staff Comments

   27
   Item 2.   

Properties

   27
   Item 3.   

Legal Proceedings

   28
   Item 4.   

Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

   29
PART II      
   Item 5.   

Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholders Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

   30
   Item 6.   

Selected Financial data

   30
   Item 7.   

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

   32
   Item 7A.   

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

   68
   Item 8.   

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

   70
   Item 9.   

Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

   142
   Item 9A(T).   

Controls and Procedures

   142
   Item 9B.   

Other Information

   142
PART III      
   Item 10.   

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

   143
   Item 11.   

Executive Compensation

   147
   Item 12.   

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

   161
   Item 13.   

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence

   166
   Item 14.   

Principal Accounting Fees and Services

   168
PART IV      
   Item 15.    Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules    170
   Signatures    176

 

2


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

PART I

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “plan,” “could,” “may,” “will,” “believe,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project” and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements address various matters, including:

 

   

general economic conditions, including the effects of any economic downturn on advertising spending levels, the costs of, and demand for, consumer packaged goods, media, entertainment and technology products and any interest rate or exchange rate fluctuations;

 

   

our ability to realize anticipated cost savings related to our Transformation Initiative;

 

   

the effect of disruptions to our information processing systems;

 

   

the timing and scope of technological advances;

 

   

our substantial indebtedness;

 

   

certain covenants in our debt documents;

 

   

customer procurement strategies that could put additional pricing pressure on us;

 

   

consolidation in our customers’ industries may reduce the aggregate demand for our services;

 

   

regulatory review by governmental agencies that oversee information gathering and changes in data protection laws;

 

   

the impact of tax planning initiatives and resolution of audits of prior tax years;

 

   

the financial statement impact of changes in generally accepted accounting principles;

 

   

the ability to attract and retain customers and key personnel;

 

   

risks to which our international operations are exposed, including local political and economic conditions, the effects of foreign currency fluctuations and the ability to comply with local laws;

 

   

criticism of our audience measurement services;

 

   

the possibility that our owners’ interests will conflict with ours or yours;

 

   

the impact of competitive products;

 

   

the effect of disruptions in the mail, telecommunication infrastructure and/or air services;

 

   

the ability to maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary information gathering processes;

 

   

the ability to successfully integrate our company in accordance with our strategy; and

 

   

the other factors set forth under Item 1A, “Risk Factors”.

We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors may not contain all of the material factors that are important to you. In addition, in light of these risks and uncertainties, the matters referred to in the forward looking statements contained in this report may not in fact occur. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

 

3


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements
Item 1. Business

Our Company

The Nielsen Company B.V. (also referred to herein as Nielsen, the Company and “we” or “our”) is a leading global information and media company providing essential integrated marketing and media measurement information, analytics and industry expertise to clients across the world. In addition, our trade shows, online media assets and publications occupy leading positions in a number of their targeted end markets. Through our broad portfolio of products and services, we track sales of consumer products each year, report on television viewing habits in countries representing more than 60% of the world’s population, measure internet audiences and produce trade shows, print publications and online newsletters. For the year ended December 31, 2007, we generated revenue of $4,707 million and Covenant EBITDA (as defined herein) of $1,304 million.

Our Consumer Services segment provides critical consumer behavior information and analysis primarily to businesses in the consumer packaged goods industry. Nielsen is a global leader in retail measurement services and consumer household panel data. Our extensive database of retail and consumer information, combined with advanced analytical capabilities, yields valuable strategic insights and information that influence our clients’ critical business decisions such as enhancing brand management strategies, developing and launching new products, identifying new marketing opportunities and improving marketing return on investment.

Our Media segment provides measurement information for multiple media platforms, including broadcast and cable television, motion pictures, music, print, the internet and mobile telephones. Nielsen is the industry leader in U.S. television audience measurement, and our measurement data is widely accepted as the “currency” in determining the value of programming and advertising opportunities on U.S. television.

Our Business Media segment is a leading market-focused provider of integrated information and sales and marketing solutions. Through a multi-channel approach consisting of trade shows, online media assets and publications, Business Media offers attendees, exhibitors, readers and advertisers the insights and connections that assist them in gaining a competitive edge in their respective markets.

Our business generates a stable and predictable revenue stream and is characterized by long-term client relationships, multi-year contracts and high contract renewal rates related to marketing and media measurement services. Advertising across our segments represented only 4% of our total revenue in 2007. We serve a global client base across multiple end markets including consumer packaged goods, retail, broadcast and cable television, telecommunications, music and online media. The average length of relationship with our top ten clients including The Procter & Gamble Company, NBC/Universal, the Unilever Group, News Corp., Nestlé S.A. and The Coca-Cola Company is over 30 years.

Our revenue is highly diversified by business segment, geography and client. In 2007, 56% of our revenues were generated from our Consumer Services segment, 33% from our Media segment and the remaining 11% from our Business Media segment. We conduct our business activities in more than 100 countries, with 56% of our revenues generated in the U.S., 10% in North and South America excluding the U.S., 25% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the remaining 9% in Asia Pacific. No single client accounted for more than 5% of our total revenue in 2007.

Recent Developments

On December 18, 2006, we announced a corporate strategy and related restructuring to integrate our various service offerings, historically conducted in separate businesses, into a single organization focused on four major areas: sales and client service, product development and product management, global business services combining all of our information technology systems, facilities and operations, and corporate functions including finance, human resources, legal and communications. We currently operate, and therefore report, in three segments, Consumer Services, Media and Business Media.

 

4


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

On February 8, 2007, we completed the sale of a significant portion of its Business Media Europe unit (“BME”) to 3i, a European private equity and venture capital firm for $414 million. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of BME was used to pay down our debt under our senior secured credit facility. On October 30, 2007, we completed the sale of our 50% interest in VNU Exhibitions Europe B.V. to Jaarbeurs (Holding) B.V. for $51 million.

In early 2006, we acquired a majority interest in BuzzMetrics, Inc. (“BuzzMetrics”) and on June 4, 2007, we acquired its remaining outstanding shares for $47 million. On June 22, 2007, we acquired the remaining minority interest in NetRatings, Inc. (“NetRatings”) for $330 million (including $33 million to settle all outstanding share-based awards). On October 15, 2007, the Company announced the formation of Nielsen Online, comprised of the NetRatings and BuzzMetrics services, providing independent measurement and analysis of online audiences, advertising, video, blogs, consumer-generated media, word-of-mouth, commerce and consumer behavior.

On August 9, 2007, Nielsen completed the acquisition of Telephia, Inc. (“Telephia”), a provider of syndicated consumer research in the telecom and mobile media markets, for approximately $449 million (including non-cash consideration of $6 million). On October 15, 2007, we announced the formation of Nielsen Mobile, which combines Telephia with several existing Nielsen initiatives in the mobile market, to understand and interpret the behaviors, attitudes and experiences of mobile consumers.

On October 18, 2007, we announced a relationship with Tata Consultancy Services Limited (“TCS”) for the outsourcing of a portion of our information technology and operations functions worldwide. TCS will assist us in integrating and centralizing multiple systems, technologies and processes on a global scale and will provide us with a broad suite of information technology and business process services, including general and process consulting, product engineering, program management, application development and maintenance, coding, data management, finance and accounting services and human resource services. TCS will also assist us in streamlining and simplifying our IT infrastructure and our applications and operational platforms across its businesses. This relationship was formalized in an agreement, valued at approximately $1 billion over ten years, signed on February 19, 2008.

Our Strengths

Global Leadership Positions. We hold industry-leading positions in marketing information services, media measurement services, trade shows and business publications. We have achieved leading positions within each of our business segments, primarily as a result of our ability to offer clients comprehensive and integrated marketing communications products and services that are essential for our clients to successfully operate their businesses. As demand for market analysis from a single global source continues to grow, Nielsen’s consumer retail measurement, panel-based and analytical product offerings are well positioned to benefit. In Media, we have leading market positions across multiple media platforms and geographies. For example, our measurement information is trusted as the “currency” in determining the value of programming and advertising opportunities on U.S. television. Our Business Media segment is one of the largest global providers of business-to-business information and, through its trade shows, online media assets and publications, provides clients with leading coverage of their industries. We believe our size and leading market positions will continue to contribute to our consistent growth and strong operating margins.

Extensive Portfolio of Successful Products. For over 80 years, Nielsen has provided trusted service to the world’s top consumer packaged goods and merchandising clients. ScanTrack, Nielsen Homescan and BASES provide point-of-sale retail measurement, consumer household purchase panels and new product concept testing, respectively. For over 50 years, Nielsen has been recognized as a trusted source of television audience measurement by virtually all of the leading broadcast and cable networks, television stations, syndicators and advertisers in the U.S. Nielsen Entertainment provides, among other things, box office results and music sales, Nielsen Online provides internet audience measurement and Nielsen Mobile provides syndicated consumer research in the telecom and mobile media markets. In Business Media, we publish some of the most recognizable

 

5


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

business-to-business magazine titles across various segments including Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter. We believe that our products along with the quality of service we provide will continue to enable us to attract new business and retain existing business resulting in both revenue and cash flow growth.

Strong Client Relationships. Our long-standing client relationships and multi-year contracts contribute to a stable and predictable revenue stream. We have cultivated strong long-standing client relationships with many of the world’s leading consumer packaged goods, media and entertainment companies. In Consumer Services, our clients include the largest consumer packaged goods and merchandising companies in the world. The average length of our relationships with Consumer Services’ top ten clients in 2007 was over 30 years. In many cases, our sales and service staff are located on-site at our clients’ offices and customize the analysis related to specific client issues and needs. Given our essential products and strong client service, our business in Consumer Services is characterized by multi-year agreements, with more than 50% of each year’s revenues under agreement by the beginning of the fiscal year. Within Media, our client base includes leading media companies to whom we have been providing audience measurement information for over 50 years. Our Media clients typically enter into multi-year contracts and have high renewal rates (over 95% in our U.S. television audience measurement business). The average length of our relationships with Media’s top ten clients in 2007 was over 30 years. We expect our strong client relationships to contribute to our ongoing success and growth.

Diversified Global Business Mix. Our Consumer Services, Media and Business Media segments contributed 56%, 33% and 11% of our revenue in 2007, respectively. Our broad portfolio of product offerings, large client base, multiple end markets and wide geographic presence provide us with a diverse revenue stream, with advertising across our segments representing only 4% of our total revenue in 2007. We believe our global presence will continue to expand as we grow our business in rapidly developing markets and our business mix will continue to broaden as we invest in new products and services.

Highly Resilient Business Model with Consistent Cash Flow Generation. Our clients’ continuous need for information related to key marketing and business development decisions as well as for media measurement has historically provided us with strong constant currency revenue growth and consistent cash flow generation. On a pro forma basis in 2006, and in 2007, we achieved constant currency revenue growth of 5% and 7%, respectively (excluding a $90 million deferred revenue adjustment in 2006). For purposes of calculating revenue growth on a constant currency basis, we have removed the exchange rate impact of 0% and 3% respectively, for revenue growth in 2006 and 2007. Both Consumer Services and Media have multi-year client agreements and high contract renewal rates. In addition, Business Media benefits from advance payments related to bookings for trade shows. We have a disciplined approach to capital expenditures based on new product growth and return on invested capital analysis. We believe that the largely resilient nature of our revenue base along with our disciplined approach to spending will enable us to convert a significant portion of our revenue to cash available for debt service.

Attractive Industry Outlook. We operate in two distinct industries: (i) the global marketing and media research industry (through our Consumer Services and Media segments), and (ii) the business information industry (through our Business Media segment). Consumer packaged goods companies use our Consumer Services segment’s marketing information to monitor brand performance and stay competitive. Growth in our Consumer Services segment is expected to be driven by continued globalization and geographic expansion of consumer packaged goods companies, increased demand for higher value-added information and related services, as well as the need to improve brand performance, develop and launch new products and increase marketing return on investment. Growth of our Media business is related in part to television and other media advertising spending. The 2007 VSS Industry Forecast projects U.S. television advertising growth of 4% compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) from 2007 to 2011. In addition, according to the 2007 VSS Industry Forecast, film entertainment (box office) and internet advertising are expected to grow at CAGRs of 27% and 21%, respectively, from 2007 through 2011. We also participate in the global business information sector through our Business Media segment by offering trade shows, online media assets and print publications. According to the 2007 VSS Industry Forecast, the size of the U.S. market for business-to-business magazines, e-media and trade

 

6


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

shows is estimated to grow at a CAGR of approximately 6% from 2007 through 2011. We believe that continued strength in these industries will enhance our growth potential.

Experienced Management Team. We have a strong and committed management team that has substantial relevant industry knowledge and a proven track record of operational success. We believe that our management team positions us well to successfully implement our growth strategy and productivity initiatives.

Our Strategy

Our goals are to continue to increase the value we deliver to our clients, streamline our operations and grow our business. Our strategy involves a company restructuring to phase out over time our historical business unit structure in the Consumer Services and Media segments and integrate Nielsen with consolidated global business services and functions. We intend to execute our goals through the following business strategies:

Build on our Brand and Core Services. On January 18, 2007, we announced a change of our name to “The Nielsen Company” to emphasize our best-known brand name and our commitment to create an integrated, streamlined global organization. We will continue to maintain our focus on our leading brand to drive growth in each of our businesses. Our Nielsen brand has positioned us well in the market for retail measurement and audience measurement services. We expect to build on our brand by continuing to improve the quality of our products and enhance our services. We will continue to improve the measurement of media audiences through increased granularity of our demographic market data, and of retail information through increased store coverage and worldwide expansion of Nielsen Homescan, our consumer household panel. In addition, we expect to take advantage of our brand recognition to grow our revenues in areas such as value-added services, analytics and new measurement opportunities through BASES, Nielsen Online and Nielsen Mobile, among others. We believe that building on our brand will drive continued demand for our existing and new products, leading to strong revenue growth.

Lead Innovation of Measurement Services. We continue to develop new solutions and technologies to improve the measurement of consumer trends and measure audiences across the latest media platforms. In the global market for consumer packaged goods, we have an arrangement with Yahoo! to determine the impact of online advertising on offline purchasing behavior.

In media and entertainment, Nielsen continues to deploy advanced metering technology (such as People Meters and Active/Passive Meters) and expand its measurement of television viewing habits through initiatives capturing digital video recording, video on demand and television via the internet. We continue to invest in high growth products and services such as integrated television and internet measurement, and the measurement of media consumption on personal electronic devices, such as downloads for cell phones and iPods. For example, our Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement, (“A2/M2”) initiative will deliver integrated ratings for all forms of video viewing, regardless of the delivery medium. In addition, we have entered into a strategic relationship with Google to provide it with demographic data critical to the clients of its television advertising platform.

These initiatives along with our expanded consumer analysis capabilities have created significant revenue opportunities and broadened our service offerings. We will continue to focus on developing innovative solutions to provide our clients with increasingly relevant and precise measurement information.

Expand Globally. We intend to extend our already strong global reach and increase our global leadership. Global reach is increasingly important given our clients’ growth into new markets, and we are well positioned to increase our global presence in each of our operating segments. Our substantial presence in rapidly developing markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China illustrates our success with this strategy. In 2007, our AGB Nielsen Media Research television audience measurement (“TAM”) joint venture, covering 26 countries, continued its expansion in China, where People Meters have been introduced in 16 provinces, including all major metropolitan areas. Media also has other TAM joint ventures and investments covering an additional 15 countries including in Latin America with IBOPE, and separate ventures in Canada, Finland and India.

 

7


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

Optimize our Portfolio of Product Offerings. We will continue to evaluate our products and services to determine the optimal offering given current and forecasted client demand. We will look to develop businesses that best serve our clients while maintaining a focus on profitability, thereby maximizing our return on invested capital. For example, Nielsen and the Digimarc Corporation are working together to provide a new service, Nielsen Digital Media Manager, that will enable media companies, social networks, peer-to-peer services and user-generated content sites to monitor and manage the distribution of media content across the internet using digital watermarking and fingerprinting. NielsenConnect provides integrated solutions to the issues faced by our media, marketing and other clients by combining assets throughout Nielsen and creating new products and services. For example, Nielsen In-Store measures and evaluates in-store marketing vehicles to assist marketing and retailing professionals in better understanding how to reach and influence consumers in retail environments.

We will also consider select acquisitions of complementary businesses that would enhance our product portfolio. In addition, we will consider opportunistically divesting operations that we believe to be non-core to our operations. As marketing activities continue to shift from mass to targeted audiences, we believe the optimization of our product portfolio will offer more focused solutions to our clients.

Pursue our Integration Strategy and Continue to Reduce Costs. In December 2006, we announced our intention to expand then current cost-saving programs to all areas of our operations worldwide. The Company further announced strategic changes as part of a major corporate Transformation Initiative designed to make the Company a more successful and efficient enterprise. The initiative includes the integration of critical data acquisition, processing, validation, delivery and application-development functions in a streamlined Global Business Services (“GBS”) organization. GBS is harmonizing and simplifying systems and processes formerly managed separately in Nielsen’s business units to improve efficiency, quality and delivery speed, reduce costs and provide a stronger platform for the development of integrated information services. Nielsen’s relationship with TCS provides additional business-process expertise, lower-cost resources and technology capacity to support the achievement of the Company’s transformation goals. The transformation also includes streamlining corporate functions and expanding the outsourcing of certain operational and production processes.

Our Business Segments

Consumer Services

Our Consumer Services segment provides essential market research and analysis primarily to businesses in the consumer packaged goods industry. Our Consumer Services segment provides an array of services including retail measurement services (ScanTrack), household consumer panels (Nielsen Homescan), new product testing (BASES), consumer segmentation and targeting (Spectra), customized research services and marketing optimization services (Analytical Consulting). We believe these products and services give our clients a competitive advantage in making informed decisions in today’s fast-moving and complex marketplace. Our Consumer Services segment operates in more than 100 countries. We believe one of our primary strengths is our global presence, which is increasingly important in today’s environment as our largest clients operate globally and continue to expand and invest in developing markets.

Consumer Services’ client base comprises the world’s leading consumer packaged goods companies including the Colgate-Palmolive Company, Kraft Foods, The Coca-Cola Company, Nestlé S.A., The Procter & Gamble Company and the Unilever Group as well as leading retail chains such as Carrefour, Kroger, Safeway, Tesco and Walgreens. With a broad global client base and long-standing client relationships, Consumer Services’ revenues are stable, predictable and highly diversified. In 2007, the average length of our relationships with Consumer Services’ top ten clients was over 30 years. These long-term relationships are strengthened by our ability to integrate products and services into clients’ workflow and provide a wide range of comparable and consistent data and analyses. This comparability of information over time enhances our clients’ ability to use our information in their decision-making and management processes. In addition, our client service professionals are often located on-site at our clients’ offices, where they assist in analyzing information by providing industry

 

8


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

context for better decision-making and in developing strategic and tactical recommendations. Consumer Services’ strength of client relationships is exemplified by average client renewal rates in excess of 90% in the U.S. and Europe from 2004 to 2007. At the beginning of each fiscal year, more than 50% of the segment’s revenue base for the upcoming year is typically committed under existing agreements. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, Consumer Services generated approximately 56% of our revenue.

Our Consumer Services segment provides the following services on a global basis: retail measurement services, consumer panel services, customized research services and various other advisory services including new product launch services and consumer targeting and segmentation. While each of these products and services provides significant value on a stand alone basis, they can be combined to provide clients with more enhanced and in-depth analyses.

Retail Measurement Services (“RMS”)

RMS provides clients with information and analytics across 99 countries on competitive sales volumes, market shares, distribution, pricing, merchandising and promotional activities. By combining this detailed information with our in-house expertise and professional assistance we enable our clients to improve their key marketing decisions. We offer these services through ScanTrack, Market Audit and other products.

RMS collects retail sales information from stores using electronic point-of-sale technology and teams of local field auditors. These stores include grocery, drug and discount retailers who, through various cooperation arrangements, share their sales data with us. The method of collection depends upon the sophistication of the retailers’ systems. RMS downloads to our servers on a regular basis electronic retail sales information collected by stores through checkout scanners. Where electronic retail sales information is unavailable, such as in certain developing markets, we collect retail sales information through in-store inventory and price checks conducted by field auditors. Across all of our markets, field auditors collect data regarding product placement in stores, including the facing and positioning on store shelves as well as other causal information.

RMS quality control systems validate, confirm and correct the collected data. The data are then processed into client-specific databases and reports by product, brand and category. Clients access RMS databases using proprietary Nielsen software that allows them to query the databases, conduct customized analysis and generate customized reports and alerts. Many clients gain access to these and other services through the Nielsen Answers Web portal.

Consumer Panel Services (“CPS”)

CPS provides clients with consumer purchasing information, including demographics, based upon individual household consumption. Clients use this information to more precisely target and better segment their consumers. In addition, we are able to use CPS information to augment our retail measurement information in circumstances where we do not collect retail data from certain retailers. CPS is primarily offered through our Nielsen Homescan and Homepanel products.

Nielsen Homescan collects data from household panelists who use in-home scanners to record purchases from each shopping trip. In the U.S., over 100,000 selected households, constituting a demographically balanced sample of U.S. households, participate in the household panel. Data received from CPS household panels undergoes a quality control process, including UPC verification and validation before it is processed into databases and reports. CPS clients may access these databases and perform analysis using our Panelfact proprietary software. In addition, CPS provides clients with templated alerts, dashboards and reports which can be accessed over the internet or through a desktop application.

 

9


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

Customized Research Services (“CRS”)

CRS is a suite of customized research services as well as consumer and industry studies we offer our clients. CRS clients are able to use these services and studies to derive information and insights into consumer attitudes and purchasing behavior, to evaluate and understand why marketing campaigns succeed or fail, and to address issues such as promotions, pricing, consumer targeting and marketing mix. CRS is offered through products such as Winning Brands, ShopperTrends and Brand3.

CRS collects information through surveys, personal interviews, focus groups, online evaluations, from panels maintained by CRS and third party panel providers. Once information is collected, it is subject to CRS quality control standards and is then processed into databases and reports. CRS provides customized research services and consumer and industry studies to clients through presentations and reports.

New Product Launch Services (BASES)

BASES is a sales forecasting service for our clients’ new products and product restages across a number of industries, particularly in the consumer packaged goods field. Clients use this information to evaluate the sales potential of new products, identify potential clients, forecast sales volume and refine concept design and communication.

BASES maintains panels, including online panels, in several countries and uses third party panel providers to survey consumers. Panelists are exposed to new product ideas and prototypes in order to gauge their interest. BASES quality control systems organize and validate the information it collects. Using this information BASES delivers marketing recommendations and additional diagnostics to help clients refine product, price and marketing plans.

Consumer Targeting and Segmentation (Spectra)

Spectra provides clients in the consumer packaged goods industry with consumer targeting and segmentation analytics, integrating information about households, geographies and retail shopping locations. Clients use Spectra services, including its proprietary consumer segmentation grid (the Spectra Grid), for category management and media and marketing planning. Spectra uses multiple database sources, including those from Consumer Services, Scarborough and third parties, to develop the Spectra Grid. The Spectra Grid is typically accessed through an extranet web portal.

Analytical Consulting Services

Analytic Consulting consists of software tools and analysis to help clients make decisions with respect to marketing, marketing investment and pricing and promotion. Analytic Consulting’s proprietary Decisionsmart software tool enables clients to develop trade planning and promotion schedules and forecasts, interpret outputs of applications and provide recommendations to better drive trade planning and promotions. In addition, Analytic Consulting consultants with industry expertise assist clients with their marketing decisions.

Media

Our Media segment is a leading provider of media and entertainment measurement information. This segment measures audiences for U.S. television (Nielsen Media Research), international television (50% ownership of AGB Nielsen Media Research), the internet (Nielsen Online), motion pictures (Nielsen EDI), tracks sales of music (Nielsen SoundScan), cell phone transactions and usage activity (Nielsen Mobile) and other media, and provides competitive advertising information (Nielsen Monitor-Plus). Using our critical measurement information, media owners, advertising agencies, advertisers and retailers plan and optimize their marketing strategies. During 2007, to conform to a change in our management reporting, we reclassified our Claritas

 

10


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

business from Consumer Services to the Media segment. Media is particularly strong in the U.S. television audience measurement market where our Nielsen audience estimates are widely accepted as the “currency” for both buyers and sellers of U.S. television advertising, an industry that had over $62 billion of annual expenditures in 2006 according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment & Media Outlook. Nielsen Media Research estimates television usage both nationally and across all the 210 local television markets in the U.S. Our leading market position in researching the U.S. television audience has been achieved as a result of continued investment and over 50 years of experience providing clients with reliable audience estimates.

Media has a diversified client base, consisting of over 25,000 individual clients including leading broadcast, cable and Internet companies such as CBS, Comcast, Disney/ABC, NBC/Universal, News Corp., Time Warner and Univision; leading advertising agencies such as IPG, Omnicom and WPP; leading wireless companies such as Verizon and AT&T; leading film studios such as 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros.; and other leading media companies. Media’s business model allows for both high revenue visibility and consistent, predictable growth as a result of multi-year contracts and high contract renewal rates (over 95% in the U.S. television audience measurement service). The average length of Media’s relationships with its top ten clients in 2007 was more than 30 years. Our clients value the high quality service offerings and technology, which we maintain and improve through continuous innovation and protect via over 200 existing and pending patents in the U.S. alone. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, Media generated approximately 33% of our revenue.

Our Media segment is comprised of four principal divisions, Media Research, Online, Entertainment and Mobile. These divisions provide many different services including television audience measurement, internet usage measurement, movie box office measurement and mobile media measurement.

Media Research

Television Audience Measurement. Nielsen and AGB Nielsen Media Research collectively measure the size and demographic composition of television audiences in 42 countries worldwide. Advertisers use this information to plan television advertising campaigns, evaluate the effectiveness of their commercial messages and negotiate advertising rates. Television broadcasters and cable networks use this information as a tool to establish the value of their airtime and more effectively schedule and promote their programming.

Nielsen in the U.S. and Canada and AGB Nielsen Media Research in countries outside the U.S. collect audience data from demographically balanced samples of randomly selected households. In the U.S., Nielsen Media Research provides two principal ratings services: measurement of national television audiences (“National Ratings Services”) and measurement of local television audiences in each of the 210 designated television markets (“Local Ratings Services”). The measurement of national and local television audiences among Hispanic households has been integrated into the National and Local services.

Both Nielsen and AGB Nielsen Media Research use various methods to collect the data from households including electronic meters and written diaries. Our electronic meters include our Set Meters (either Mark2 or Active/Passive) and People Meters. A Set Meter is attached to a device (TV, VCR, PVR, etc.) and electronically captures household-level tuning data by monitoring the channel to which the device is tuned. In 2005, we introduced into our U.S. samples electronic meters based on our next-generation, patented Active/Passive metering technology, which is designed to measure television tuning in a digital environment and has enabled us to reflect time-shifted viewing on digital video recorders in our ratings. A People Meter is an attachment to any Set Meter which adds electronic persons measurement functionality to the Set Meter, enabling Nielsen to not only collect television device tuning data (i.e., what channel is being viewed) but also the demographics of the audience (i.e., who in the household is watching). Our National Ratings Service is based on a sample of approximately 14,000 households using meters for tuning and persons measurement. Approximately 85% of such households are measured using Active/Passive Meters.

Our Local Ratings Service uses People Meters in the top 13 local television markets, a combination of Set Meters and written diaries in the next 43 local television markets, and only written diaries in the remaining 154

 

11


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

local television markets. Local People Meters will be introduced into an additional five television markets in 2008, with an additional 38 markets planned between 2009 and 2012. When Local People Meters are introduced into these additional markets, approximately 70% of households in our Local Ratings Service will be measured by People Meters.

Information is downloaded from the electronic meters to our servers where it is subject to quality control including digital coding program, station, cable system, network and syndicated verification. We then process the information into databases and reports which are then distributed overnight to clients. In addition, our clients can license Nielsen software which enables them to access, manipulate and customize varying levels of information directly from the Nielsen database.

In response to the transformation of the television industry into a multi-platform business, in June of 2006, Nielsen announced the launching of its Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement research and testing program, known as “A2/M2”. This initiative develops and deploys technology to measure new ways consumers are watching television, such as on the internet, outside the home and via cell phones, iPods and other personal mobile devices. Nielsen will continue its focus on providing the most accurate estimates available of in-home television viewing through its Active/Passive Meters, but through the A2/M2 initiative is also pursuing the measurement of online streaming video and internet measurement in Nielsen’s People Meter samples, the addition of out-of-home measurement in Nielsen’s People Meter samples, the introduction of further electronic measurement in local markets, the development of new meters to measure video viewed on portable media devices and the creation of new methods for measuring viewer “engagement” in television programming.

Advertising Information Services (“AIS”). AIS provides commercial occurrence data and tracks the proportion of all advertising in international markets within a product category attributable to a particular brand or advertiser and is similar to our Monitor-Plus service in the U.S.. We measure advertising expenditures, placements and creative content in 22 countries by company, by brand, and by product category across monitored media. Such media include print, outdoor advertising, radio and freestanding inserts as well as television. Clients use this service to manage their media spend by benchmarking their own performance against that of their competitors. We provide advertising information services in the U.S. under our Monitor-Plus brand.

Media Solutions Services. Our Media division also provides a number of other products and services. Claritas provides segmentation services similar to Spectra. It provides recommendations on site selection for new retail stores and information for consumer targeting for direct mail campaigns, in each case primarily outside of the consumer packaged goods industry. Clients use Claritas to determine certain characteristics of their potential and existing clients such as where they live and shop, what they buy and how to best reach them. This information contributes to clients’ strategies regarding direct mailing activities at household and individual levels, as well as mass-marketing activities.

SRDS collects information on media advertising rates, publishing dates and contact data on media outlets in the U.S. Interactive Market Systems (“IMS”) provides media planning and analysis software to analyze both industry and proprietary research data. The software is used by advertising agencies, advertisers, publishers, broadcasters, other media owners and researchers. IMS software can be used for television, press, radio, outdoor and internet planning.

Scarborough Research. Scarborough Research, a joint venture between Nielsen and Arbitron, Inc., measures the lifestyle and shopping patterns, media behaviors, and demographics of consumers in the U.S. A total of 81 local markets are measured at regular intervals through telephone surveys, product booklets and diaries.

Online

In October of 2007, Nielsen announced the formation of Nielsen Online, comprised of its NetRatings and BuzzMetrics services. Nielsen Online is a global provider of internet media and market research. Its clients use this data to make informed business decisions regarding their internet marketing strategies including buying and

 

12


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

selling online advertising, tracking consumer behavior and competitive benchmarking. Its services include: internet audience and demographic measurement (NetView, SiteCensus, Market Intelligence and @Plan); internet advertising intelligence (AdRelevance); and internet market research (MegaView Search, Retail and Travel, Homescan Online and Custom Analytics and Surveys). Our SiteCensus product employs a technology at the client’s server side to deliver a census-based count of internet traffic by site. Clients access this information in real time and the aggregated SiteCensus data forms our Market Intelligence service.

Nielsen Online collects information through representative panels that track panelists’ at-home and at-work computer and internet activity. Panelists are recruited through a variety of methods, including random digit dialing and online surveys, as well as through partnerships with local market research providers. We have approximately 430,000 individuals under measurement in countries including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France and Germany. We use the data to produce syndicated and custom reports that are delivered to clients via online delivery tools on a weekly or monthly basis.

Nielsen Online also tracks, measures and analyzes consumer-generated media (“CGM”) on the internet, including opinions, advice, consumer-to-consumer discussions, reviews, shared personal experiences, photos, images, videos and podcasts, to provide market intelligence to its clients. Internet sources include online forums, boards, blogs and Usenet newsgroups. CGM plays an influential role in driving consumer perceptions, awareness and purchase behavior. We deliver studies and services to clients to help them understand the impact of CGM and how to integrate CGM into brand building, product development, customer service and corporate communications strategies.

Mobile

Nielsen Mobile provides syndicated consumer research and independent measurement for telecom and media companies in the convergence marketplace. Clients rely upon our data to make consumer marketing, competitive strategy and resource allocation decisions. We measure media and data content and analyze consumer behavior, attitudes and experiences on mobile devices worldwide. Among other things, Nielsen Mobile measures point-of-sale revenue performance (e.g., purchases of mobile games, music and ring tones) and share of mobile internet, TV and video audiences. By integrating our mobile media data with Nielsen’s other audience measurement services, we track and measure consumer behavior across multiple media platforms. We also benchmark the end-to-end consumer experience to pinpoint problem areas in the service delivery chain, track key performance metrics for mobile devices and identify key market opportunities (e.g., by tracking demand for device features and services).

Entertainment

Nielsen Entertainment provides measurement information to the entertainment industry through various products and services including the following:

Nielsen EDI captures box-office results from more than 50,000 movie screens across 18 countries, including, among others, the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Clients use this information in deciding where and for how long a movie will play, as well as the allocation of advertising and promotional dollars. Through Nielsen Soundscan, Bookscan and Videoscan, Nielsen tracks and reports in-store and online retail sales of audio products, books and video entertainment products. Clients use these services to monitor their market share. Nielsen National Research Group (“NRG”) tests movie promotional materials, predicts the gross box office receipts of upcoming and recently released movies and compiles film awareness studies in the U.S. Clients use NRG’s research to develop, or make changes to, their marketing plans. NRG’s clients include major film studios in the U.S. We also offer similar services in Europe, Australia and Japan.

 

13


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

Business Media

Our Business Media segment is one of the largest providers of integrated business-to-business information in the world. This segment has approximately 65 trade shows, 40 print publications and 200 digital products (including websites, online newsletters, virtual tradeshows and webinars), targeted to specific industry groups. Through 2006, our Business Media segment was comprised of two divisions: Nielsen Business Media U.S. and Nielsen Business Media Europe (“BME”), each with its own trade shows, online media assets and publications. On February 8, 2007, Nielsen completed the sale of BME to 3i, a European private equity and venture capital firm. The Company’s financial statements reflect BME’s business as a discontinued operation.

Our Business Media segment is anchored by the U.S. trade show business, which is characterized by high margins, diversified end markets and strong free cash flow. The trade show business operates leading trade shows across a wide range of industries, such as jewelry, general merchandise and kitchen & bath design. In addition, our publications, such as Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, benefit from leading brand name recognition and established audiences. Clients include professionals and advertisers from a variety of industries including marketing, media, advertising, entertainment, informational technology, career management and finance. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, Business Media generated approximately 11% of our revenue.

Trade Shows. Each year, we produce approximately 65 trade shows in the U.S., for attendees principally comprised of retailers, distributors and business professionals. Industry leaders use these events to sell existing products and to promote the launch of new products in order to reach decision-makers in their respective industries. In 2006, our U.S. trade shows led in both number of shows produced and in net square footage according to the 2007 annual Tradeshow Week rankings of the top 200 U.S. trade shows. Our portfolio is diversified across a large number of end markets. Leading events include the Hospitality Design Conference and Expo, the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show and Conference, Associated Surplus Dealers/Associated Merchandise Dealers shows, the Interbike International Bike Show and Expo and the JA International Jewelry Summer and Winter Shows.

Online Media & Publications. In the U.S., we publish trade publications and maintain related online sites across various segments including marketing and media, retail trade, construction, real estate, travel, entertainment, health, jewelry and gifts, among others. These publications are distributed to approximately 1.2 million readers. Titles include Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Brandweek, Film Journal International, Commercial Property News and National Jeweler. Billboard covers leading music artists and the marketing plans for their upcoming releases, including music videos. The Hollywood Reporter is a leading film and entertainment magazine which keeps industry professionals abreast of films that are in production and development. Brandweek and Adweek are leading sources for the latest brand management strategies and tools. The websites related to these titles provide further information on their respective industry groups and developments. Our online media offerings and publications attract brand managers who we then help to build an integrated, business-to-business marketing campaign that reaches retailers through many of the same online and print media.

Trade Show Joint Ventures Outside U.S. In October of 2007, Nielsen completed the sale of its 50% interest in VNU Exhibitions Europe B.V. to Jaarbeurs (Holding) B.V. VNU Exhibitions Europe B.V. operates trade shows in the Benelux countries, Russia and Asia.

Sales and Marketing

Our Consumer Services and Media services are typically comprised of information, the software tools to access that information and a client service team to help interpret the information and ensure that the client derives maximum value from our services. In Consumer Services, the client service team is often located at the client site, and can also be available on an “as needed” basis, either in person or by phone. Client service is

 

14


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

responsible for both managing the client relationship and developing new sales opportunities with the client. The majority of services are usually provided on an ongoing or continuous basis, and therefore typically agreed to for multiple years.

Large clients typically subscribe to a market measurement service from Nielsen or one of its competitors, so an important role of client service is to focus on client retention and to win business held by competitors. Another key client service responsibility is to sell additional products and services beyond the core measurement services. These additional services include targeting and segmentation (Nielsen Homescan, Spectra), new product testing (BASES) and other advisory services.

Our large clients often need to monitor their business on a regional or global basis. To meet this need, Nielsen will sometimes assign a senior client service professional to be the regional or global account manager. This person may be based at the client’s headquarters building, where he or she can develop relationships with the client’s senior executives, further enhancing our client relationship. At the same time, many smaller target companies do not subscribe to a continuous measurement service so we also employ a specialist client service team to target this market opportunity with offerings tailored to fit the needs of smaller companies.

Marketing activities are focused on strategic marketing, product management, new product development and ensuring that our client service team is well-equipped with information and support materials on Nielsen’s product and service offerings. Marketing strategy is set globally, while marketing activities are managed on a regional basis. Nielsen’s investment in client service means that we have personal contact with our clients on a daily basis. Therefore, marketing communications efforts are focused on supporting client service with brochures, fact sheets, client advisory boards, websites and, in larger markets, annual conferences and newsletters. Spending on advertising and public relations is not considered key to our business success and is therefore limited.

Competition

Consumer Services

Nielsen has numerous competitors in its various lines of business throughout the world. Competition includes companies specializing in marketing research, the in-house research departments of manufacturers and advertising agencies, retailers that sell information directly or through brokers, information management and software companies, and consulting and accounting firms. In retail measurement services, Nielsen’s principal competitor in the U.S. is Information Resources, Inc. Information Resources, Inc. is also active in Europe and, through partial ownership of MEMRB, in Eastern Europe and other geographies. Our consumer panel services, custom research services, and other data and advisory services business have direct and/or indirect competitors, including Taylor Nelson Sofres plc and GfK AG, in many markets in which they operate. Principal competitive factors include innovation, quality, timeliness, reliability and comprehensiveness of data and analytical services, flexibility in tailoring services to client needs, price, and geographic and market coverage.

Media

Nielsen has maintained a strong leadership position in the television ratings measurement industry in the U.S. Taylor Nelson Sofres plc and Rentrack both provide analytical, quantitative audience information obtained from set-top box and other cable distributor-generated data. Nielsen’s ratings have been criticized on occasion by various participants in the television industry. This criticism, in part, may increase the likelihood of additional competition in the media research business. Outside of the U.S. AGB Nielsen Media Research faces competition from various competitors in several of the jurisdictions in which it operates. Nielsen Online faces competition in the United States and abroad for each of its products and services. Direct competitors include companies that provide panel-based internet measurement services, such as comScore Networks, providers of site-centric Web analytics solutions, including Omniture, Coremetrics and WebTrends, and companies that measure consumer

 

15


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

generated media on the internet, such as Cymfony, BuzzLogic and Umbria. Nielsen Online also faces increased competition from individual websites that utilize their own method of measuring their audience and from other companies that develop new or alternative audience measurement technologies.

Our other Media businesses also face direct and indirect competition in most markets in which they operate. Principal competitive factors include innovation, quality, timeliness, reliability and comprehensiveness of data and analytical services, flexibility in tailoring services to client needs, price, and geographic and market coverage.

Business Media

The Business Media group faces competition in each of its principal product markets. Typically, there are several competitors that target the same industry sector. Furthermore, trade publications are subject to competition for advertising revenues from other media including the internet and trade shows. In the U.S., our trade publications face competition from Reed Elsevier. The competition for trade shows is highly fragmented, both by product offering and geography. Because of the availability of alternative venues and dates and the ability to define events for particular industry segments, the range of competition for exhibitor spending, sponsorships and attendees is extensive. Trade associations, with strong industry ties, also provide significant competition. The principal competitive factors in Business Media include the quality of information, quality and breadth of services, as well as level of client support, level of technical expertise and price.

Regulation

Data Protection

Our operations are subject to and affected by data protection laws in many countries. The number of countries in key business jurisdictions with data protection laws has been increasing. Compliance with these laws can impose administrative and operational burdens and other costs, and these are more significant where the data is considered to be sensitive. The consequences of a compliance failure can include civil and criminal sanctions, negative publicity, data being blocked from use, and liability under contractual warranties of compliance.

Data protection laws constrain whether and how personal data may be collected, how it may be used, how it must be stored, and whether and to whom and where it may be transferred. While the laws on personal data vary from country to country, certain basic principles are common to most data protection laws, regardless of region or subject matter. For example, the data subject should receive notice of certain details of what information is being collected, and of its planned use, storage and transfer. Data protection laws usually contemplate some degree of choice on the part of the data subject over the collection and use of personal data. Future uses of personal data generally must conform to the disclosures in the notice that was the basis for consent. Personal data should be maintained in accurate form, and the data subject should have some level of access to the information to ensure accuracy. Finally, these laws generally require sufficient security around the personal data.

In many countries, “personal data” means information relating to an identifiable individual. Data protection laws do not apply to anonymous data, and usually do not apply to information about corporations. Personal data may be characterized as “sensitive” when it reveals information about a person’s health, religion and/or philosophy, politics, race and/or ethnicity, sexual preferences and/or practices, union membership, criminal records, finances, or location. All personal data may be subject to the data protection laws, but “sensitive” personal data typically is more highly regulated than non-sensitive data. Generally this means that for sensitive data the data subject’s consent should be more explicit and more fully informed, and that security measures should be more rigorous.

Our products and services incorporate both non-sensitive and sensitive personal data. Sensitive personal data may be revealed by certain demographic data that is collected and by several of the consumption preferences

 

16


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

that are tracked. These preferences include those concerning such items as books, magazines, music, videos, healthcare products and services, religious products and services such as kosher or vegetarian items, internet activity, and cable/satellite television.

The greater constraints that apply to the collection and use of highly regulated data can have several consequences for us. For example, for panel management the more rigorous consent measures may significantly depress cooperation from panel recruits and increase the administrative and operational burden and costs of panel recruitment and management. That and the more rigorous security measures required can significantly increase costs as compared to those for non-sensitive data. Also affected are products that incorporate data from or enhance the databases of third parties, especially such highly regulated entities as financial, telecommunications, and healthcare institutions. Regulation of data from these sources can either eliminate their availability or increase the cost of using them due to the larger administrative and operational burden and expense associated with the required compliance measures. There also is a greater enforcement focus on highly regulated personal data as compared to non-sensitive data. In the event of a compliance failure there is a relatively higher risk of sanctions, civil and criminal liability, and negative publicity.

In certain cases, regulation of third-party sources of data may offer us a competitive advantage where we are not covered by the regulation. For example, the value of our data on subjects such as video and cable or satellite viewing in the U.S. may be higher due to the fact that U.S. law prohibits the suppliers of those services from disclosing such personal data.

Certain means of data collection are more highly regulated than others. There is a greater regulatory focus on data collection methods that may not always be obvious to the data subject or that otherwise present a higher risk of abuse. Examples include: collecting data online, especially by means of cookies or similar technologies, or directly from children; collecting information by means of radio frequency identification tags; and tracking location, for example by using global positioning satellites or RFID tags. The increased compliance costs associated with these means of data collection may reduce their cost-effectiveness or other advantages. Our product development plans contemplate certain of these data collection methods.

Transfer of data outside the country where it is collected is constrained by many data protection laws, and most significantly by the European Union. This has an impact on how data can be most efficiently managed. For example, these constraints have a bearing on centralized database management, because multinational access to a central database may constitute a transfer of data to the point of access. Cross-border transfers are not flatly prohibited, but the compliance measures that must be implemented before such transfers are permitted impose significant operational burdens and costs. Most of the available compliance measures also increase our exposure to liability in the event of a compliance failure.

Employees

On December 31, 2007, we had approximately 34,700 full-time equivalent employees worldwide. A number of our employees outside of the U.S. are members of workers councils or other similar organizations. We believe that our success depends partly on our continuing ability to retain and attract highly qualified technical, sales and management personnel. Although qualified personnel are in high demand and competition exists for their services, we believe that we have been able to retain and attract highly qualified personnel. We believe our relationships with our employees are good.

Intellectual Property

We own registered marks for “Nielsen,” “ACNielsen” and several other Nielsen brands and own or have applied for trademark registrations in the U.S. and in numerous jurisdictions outside the U.S. for many of our services and software products. We also have numerous trade secrets relating to data processing that are of material importance to our business. We have a number of registrations of our copyrights and a number of patents and patent applications pending including patents relating to audience measurement systems, broadcast encoding, internet content monitoring systems, and automated data collection.

 

17


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

To protect our proprietary services and software, we rely on a combination of contractual provisions, confidentiality procedures and patent, copyright, trademark, service mark and trade secret laws. We also have established policies requiring our personnel and representatives to maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary property. We will continue to apply for software and business method patents on a case-by-case basis and will continue to monitor ongoing developments in the evolving software and business method patent field.

Technology and Operations

Our businesses are supported by an infrastructure that features advanced data processing technologies and services. We use leading technologies to support our proprietary data collection and warehousing systems. Examples include, in-home point-of-sale scanning solutions, internet-enabled retailer point-of-sale uploads, mobile handheld devices for our retail store auditing teams, proprietary in-home television monitoring capabilities (Set Meter, People Meter, Active/Passive Meter) and internet-based survey delivery and data capture. Scalable, networked, midrange and mainframe processors manage, manipulate and store this information in highly structured databases. Our delivery and data analysis software platforms enable access to our information products, as well as the ability to download information to the client’s desktop for use in common spreadsheet and presentation software. We provide these capabilities to our clients and other businesses via consistent, secure and convenient access through internet-based or dedicated telecommunication links. These technologies and services are supported by data center networks including Nielsen’s Global Technology and Information Center (“GTIC”) in Oldsmar, Florida. The GTIC campus includes our data center and network operations facility. This facility is designed for high-availability, high-performance delivery of information products to our clients and other businesses on a 365 day per year, 24 hour per day, continuous schedule. The GTIC is also designed for high-capacity database operations and is equipped with full internet backbone networking capability for connectivity to our clients and our other business locations.

Financial Information about Segments and Geographic Areas

Further information regarding our operating segments and our geographic areas is set forth in Note 17, “Segments” to our consolidated financial statements.

 

Item 1A. Risk Factors

The risks described below are not the only risks facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or those we currently view to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our financial health.

We have now and will continue to have a significant amount of indebtedness. On December 31, 2007, we had total indebtedness of $8,250 million. Furthermore, the interest payments on our indebtedness could reduce the availability of our cash flow.

Our substantial indebtedness could have important consequences. For example, it could:

 

   

increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions;

 

   

require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, product development efforts and other general corporate purposes;

 

   

limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate;

 

18


Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements
   

expose us to the risk of increased interest rates as certain of our borrowings are at variable rates of interest;

 

   

restrict us from making strategic acquisitions or causing us to make non-strategic divestitures;