Nielsen Media Research Establishes Asian Pacific American Advisory Council.

Nielsen Media Research announced the creation of the Asian Pacific American Advisory Council, which consists of 11 community, civic and business leaders. The Council will advise Nielsen on a range of issues involving sampling of Asian Pacific Americans (APA) for television audience measurement and will assist Nielsen in reaching out to APA communities. The Council met for the first time in New York on Tuesday, November 15.

“Asian Pacific Americans are one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population,” said Jack Oken, general manager of local services at Nielsen Media Research. “As viewing audiences evolve, Nielsen continues to strive to be at the forefront of that change by being as culturally sensitive and relevant to our viewing households as possible. The support of this Council will greatly enhance Nielsen’s ability to more accurately measure the television viewing behavior of Asian Pacific Americans throughout the U.S.”

According to the most recent Nielsen estimates, Asian Americans represent approximately 3.8 percent of all U.S. television households. In large metropolitan areas, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, Asian TV households represent much larger segments of the population — 11.4 percent in Los Angeles, and 19.6 percent in San Francisco, for example. Other U.S. metropolitan areas including Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, New York, and Seattle also have large and growing Asian communities.

“Nielsen Media Research should be applauded for creating an Advisory Council on the rapidly growing Asian Pacific American community,” said Anil Srivatsa, executive vice president of affiliate sales and new business development at ImaginAsian TV in New York and a newly appointed member of council. “Immigrants, youth and young adults, and second-generation APAs have different and unique viewing habits, which Nielsen cannot ignore.”

The Asian American Advertising Federation (3AF), which focuses on the U.S. Asian market, serves as a community partner to Nielsen Media Research. 3AF has advised Nielsen of the growing strength of the Asian Pacific American broadcasters in key markets throughout the nation.

“Nielsen recognizes that the number of Asian media organizations in the U.S. is growing rapidly as the Asian-American population now represents a significant percentage of the population in key designated marketing areas (DMAs),” said Alice Lee, director of marketing and research at LA 18/KSCI-TV, the leading Asian-language broadcaster in Southern California. “In the Los Angeles DMA, the Asian-American population represents nearly 12 percent of the total population. As a new member of the council, I hope to contribute towards the goal of measuring Asian TV consumption behavior as accurately as possible.”

The Council Co-Chairpersons are:

Jimmy D. Lee, Commissioner White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Chicago

Don Nakanishi, Ph.D., Director, Asian American Studies Center University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles

The members of the Council are:

Tomas L. Consunji, Senior Director, Sales and Marketing ABS-CBN International (The Filipino Channel) Redwood City, Calif.

John Thai Dinh, Director of Programs Little Saigon Television Santa Ana, Calif.

Alice Lee, Director of Marketing and Research LA 18/KSCI Television – Channel 18 Los Angeles

Karen Narasaki, Esq., President and Executive Director Asian American Justice Center Washington

Michael Sherman, General Manager KTSF Television – Channel 26 Brisbane, Calif.

Nita Song, President IW Group, Inc. Los Angeles

Anil Srivatsa, EVP, Affiliate Sales and New Business Development ImaginAsian Television New York

Doua Thor, Executive Director Southeast Asia Resource Action Center Washington

Jerry Wong, Information Services Specialist U.S. Census Bureau Van Nuys, Calif.