AGB Nielsen Philippine TV ratings controversy

A legal conflict among AGB Nielsen Philippines, GMA Network, Inc. and ABS-CBN Corporation in the Philippines for an alleged television ratings breach that occurred in Western Visayan cities of Bacolod and Iloilo, has been ongoing since the final quarter of 2007-2008.

Background
On December 20, 2007, Judge Charito Gonzales, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Br. 80 released a temporary restraining order on TV ratings surveys based on a civil case filed by ABS-CBN Corporation versus AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines. ABS-CBN accused rival GMA Network of funding bribing operations at Bacolod, to discredit the former. The Court further ordered ABS-CBN to file comment on the plea of AGB Nielsen for the alleged gathering and dissemination of television ratings data, within five days or until December 22.

On December 21, 2007, DZMM correspondent Junrie Hidalgo reported a news story titled AGB Nielsen, umamin sa dayaan: GMA Network, tahasang itinurong nasa likod ng dayaan (AGB Nielsen admits the cheating: GMA Network fiercely accused of being responsible of the cheating) during the program Showbiz Mismo, hosted by Cristy Fermin and Jobert Sucaldito. The news story is based on an interview of AGB Nielsen's General Manager Maya Reforma regarding the alleged cheating.

In response, GMA aired a TV plug condemning the alleged biased reporting and denied the accusations of ABS-CBN. They later filed a PHP15-million civil libel suit against ABS-CBN on January 3, 2008. The respondents included Hidalgo, Fermin, Sucaldito, the station manager and news manager of DZMM and hosts, writers and executive producers of TV programs Bandila, Entertainment Live and The Buzz after the same story was aired on the mentioned programs.

On January 7, 2008, the Quezon City RTC junked ABS-CBN's suit against AGB Nielsen, saying the case was "prematurely filed" before the court. Judge Charito Gonzales's basis was the principle of mutuality of contracts, citing Article 1308 and 1196, New Civil Code of the Philippines. Also, Judge Samuel Gaerlan, QCRTC, Branch 92 issued court summons against ABS-CBN and its 15 personnel, in the P15-million damage suit by GMA Network.

On January 17, 2008, Judge Gaerlan recused himself from the case, due to a conflict of interest with the legal department of ABS-CBN. The case was later re-raffled on January 28, 2008, and eventually assigned to Judge Henri Inting of Branch 95, QCRTC. Judge Inting submitted GMA's petition for a temporary restraining order for decision.

On February 1, ABS-CBN presented two witnesses, Romie Diamanse and Francis Casumpang, stating RGMA head Mike Enriquez was said to have given the order to cheat in a meeting. Enriquez denied the charges and said that the statements were "shameless, malicious fiction delivered by tainted informers with an axe to grind." Diamanse and Casumpang were former employees of RGMA's 93.5 Campus Radio Iloilo (now Barangay FM 93.5 Iloilo). Casumpang resigned from the station after charges of embezzlement, and would go on to work for ABS-CBN's MOR 91.1 Iloilo. RGMA accepted Diamanse's resignation as he was considered to be "ineffective in his duties."

An anonymous witness approached the ABS-CBN stations in Davao, Iloilo and Cebu to testify that the alleged employees of GMA were bribing them to watch their programs. Another witness from Davao testified that they had to watch GMA programs in exchange for grocery items, upon discovering that they were using an AGB metering panel. At the end of the month, a group of women visited the witness's house to deliver the grocery items such as canned goods. Another witness from Iloilo said that they had to watch GMA programs in exchange for receiving half of their electrical expenses. She alleged that the "employees" visit every month to deliver grocery items and present their ID with the logo of GMA. The group was said to have also given items such as an umbrella, a plastic cup and towels – all with the GMA logo. GMA Network denied that they hired the person to do door-to-door visits to conduct the alleged rating manipulations.

On February 14, 2008, Judge Inting issued a TRO barring ABS-CBN from airing defamatory statements against GMA.