Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Schedule Of Income Tax [Line Items]
Effective tax rate	40.00%	39.70%	38.00%
Valuation allowance for net operating losses, specific capital losses and foreign tax credit carryforwards	$ 922,000	$ 1,262,000
Income tax holiday partial expiration year	2013
Unrecognized tax benefit	1,338,000	1,300,000	1,896,000
Unrecognized tax benefit if recognized would reduce effective tax rate in future periods	1,338,000
Liabilities for potential interest and penalties	200,000
Income taxes paid	38,300,000	31,700,000	24,900,000
Arbitron Mobile
Schedule Of Income Tax [Line Items]
Valuation allowance for net operating losses, specific capital losses and foreign tax credit carryforwards		800,000
Net Operating Loss Carryforwards
Schedule Of Income Tax [Line Items]
Open tax year	2007
Nielsen Holdings
Schedule Of Income Tax [Line Items]
Merger costs	5,200,000
Non-deductible amount for tax purposes	4,300,000
Minimum
Schedule Of Income Tax [Line Items]
Net operating loss carry forward expiration year	2013
Open tax year	1992
Maximum
Schedule Of Income Tax [Line Items]
Net operating loss carry forward expiration year	2029
Decrease in unrecognized tax benefit	$ 100,000
Open tax year	2006