Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012
Revenues	$ 1,386	$ 1,342	$ 2,705	$ 2,615
Cost of revenues, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below	580	549	1,159	1,099
Selling, general and administrative expenses, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below	434	428	876	866
Depreciation and amortization	126	120	247	243
Restructuring charges	8	16	43	53
Operating income	238	229	380	354
Interest income		1	1	2
Interest expense	(73)	(101)	(151)	(201)
Foreign currency exchange transaction losses, net	(4)	(4)	(16)	(13)
Other income/(expense), net		10	(12)	4
Income from continuing operations before income taxes and equity in net income of affiliates	161	135	202	146
Provision for income taxes	(46)	(37)	(64)	(35)
Equity in net income of affiliates	4	4	3	2
Income from continuing operations	119	102	141	113
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax	307	3	319	17
Net income	426	105	460	130
Net income/(loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests		1	(1)	1
Net income attributable to Nielsen stockholders	$ 426	$ 104	$ 461	$ 129
Net income per share of common stock, basic
Income from continuing operations	$ 0.32	$ 0.28	$ 0.38	$ 0.31
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax	$ 0.82	$ 0.01	$ 0.85	$ 0.05
Net income attributable to Nielsen stockholders	$ 1.14	$ 0.29	$ 1.23	$ 0.36
Net income per share of common stock, diluted
Income from continuing operations	$ 0.31	$ 0.28	$ 0.38	$ 0.31
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax	$ 0.80	$ 0.01	$ 0.84	$ 0.05
Net income attributable to Nielsen stockholders	$ 1.12	$ 0.28	$ 1.22	$ 0.35
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, basic	376,580,064	361,528,675	373,598,206	361,205,184
Dilutive shares of common stock	4,979,326	4,347,044	4,844,227	4,665,666
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, diluted	381,559,390	365,875,719	378,442,433	365,870,850
Dividends declared per common share	$ 0.16		$ 0.32