NDTV sues Nielsen in unprecedented lawsuit

It's the biggest lawsuit I've ever heard of against Nielsen, the multi-billion dollar company that oversees TV ratings in over 100 countries.

NDTV, India's biggest news network has filed a massive lawsuit that accuses Nielson of manipulating viewership data and accepting bribes to favor channels.

New Delhi Television Limited has demanded several billion dollars in compensation from Nielson as a result of the alleged manipulation that has been an industry wide issue since 2004 according to the Hollywood reporter.

The lawsuit focuses on the joint venture between the Kantar Media Research company and Nielson. NDTV says that the private equity firms investing in the venture have been trying to find a way out of the business, cutting costs which have resulted in manipulated TV viewership data. NDTV accuse Nielson of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act because channels have paid bribes to officials.

We will wait to hear more about this lawsuit, but it's a very public and damming report that will put Nielsen under intense scrutiny as the days move forward.

The lawsuit was filed in a New York Court at the end of last week.