Nielsen & Bubba Settle
• At last… our three-year regional Florida nightmare is over. Shortly before 5pm ET on Friday, July 6, Nielsen and Bubba The Love Sponge Clem announced they have settled their legal differences during an out-of-court mediation hearing, thus, averting a potentially awkward and costly ratings-tampering trial that was scheduled to begin — after several well publicized delays — on July 23. As a condition of the settlement (specific terms were not disclosed) Clem has agreed to make an undisclosed payment to Nielsen. News of the settlement was neatly summed up in a brief statement, which read, “On July 6, 2018, counsel notified the court and reported the case has settled.”
Nielsen originally filed the suit against Bubba in October 2015, alleging that Clem had paid several Tampa-area PPM panelists and diary-keepers to artificially exaggerate the amount of time they had spent listening to his morning show. Bubba filed a countersuit, alleging that Nielsen and his former employer, Cox Media Group had somehow conspired to frame him.
Nielsen issued a statement acknowledging the settlement, saying, in part, “As part of the settlement, Clem admitted that prior to the lawsuit he had not previously disclosed all contacts with Nielsen panelists. In addition, Clem disclosed that he is not presently in contact with any Nielsen panelist, he promised to never knowingly communicate with any active Nielsen panelist in the future, and agreed to immediately notify Nielsen of any future contact with Nielsen ‘s active panelists. Clem also agreed to make an undisclosed payment to Nielsen. Any future infractions by Clem will be punishable by a court-ordered injunction and additional financial damages payable to Nielsen.” The release also included a remorseful-sounding comment from Bubba that read, “I understand how important it is to the radio industry that the Nielsen ratings be free from bias and I deeply regret interfering with Nielsen’s collection of listening data.”
Nielsen further says it has “accepted Bubba Clem’s statement that he regrets his past actions and that he will never engage in similar conduct in the future. Nielsen reaffirms that none of Clem’s contacts with Nielsen panelists materially impacted Nielsen’s audience estimates. Nielsen’s lawsuit was filed as part of an ongoing initiative to safeguard the impartiality of the company’s audio estimates and to protect the integrity of its ratings process.”
Bubba’s morning show is currently based at Genesis Communications’ News-Talk WWBA AM 820/Tampa Bay and also heard in Pinellas County via translator at 98.3FM.
