CNBC and its parent company Comcast had, according to the Wall Street Journal, long complained that Nielsen was underreporting the size and wealth of its audience by failing to track out-of-home viewing in venues such as offices and airports.

“Nielsen has never measured us accurately,” said CNBC president Mark Hoffman. “If we can’t count the people the right way we can’t get paid the right way.”

In a letter last month to NBCUniversal, Nielsen apparently acknowledged the limitations of its ratings with regard to the proportion of daytime audiences watching outside the home. Nielsen will continue to measure CNBC’s evening programmes.