Background and Basis of Presentation - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 28, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013 Segment Country	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 Before devaluation of currency [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 After devaluation of currency [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Luxco owned [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Luxco owned [Member]	Feb. 28, 2013 Nielsen's common stock [Member]
Business And Basis Of Presentation [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments		3
Number of countries in which entity operates		100
Number of shares owned		374,947,526		362,519,883			195,463,201	236,266,399
Percentage of owned shares							52.00%	65.00%
Common stock par value									$ 32.55
Number of shares offered through public offering		375,160,653		362,733,010					40,814,883
Anti-dilutive shares excluded from calculation of earning per share under compensation plan		49,662	5,978,758
Currency devaluation percentage	32.00%
Foreign currency exchange transaction gains, net		$ 12
Foreign currency exchange rate					0.0430	0.0630