Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 1,487	$ 1,458
Cost of revenues, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below	641	622
Selling, general and administrative expenses, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below	465	481
Depreciation and amortization	147	142
Restructuring charges	10	14
Operating income	224	199
Interest income	1	1
Interest expense	(79)	(73)
Foreign currency exchange transaction losses, net	(1)	(26)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	145	101
Provision for income taxes	(44)	(38)
Net income	101	63
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	1
Net income attributable to Nielsen stockholders	$ 100	$ 63
Net income per share of common stock, basic
Income from continuing operations	$ 0.28	$ 0.17
Net income attributable to Nielsen stockholders	0.28	0.17
Net income per share of common stock, diluted
Income from continuing operations	0.27	0.17
Net income attributable to Nielsen stockholders	$ 0.27	$ 0.17
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, basic	361,580,670	371,169,651
Dilutive shares of common stock	3,620,469	4,192,306
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, diluted	365,201,139	375,361,957
Dividends declared per common share	$ 0.28	$ 0.25