Stockholders' Equity (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Equity [Abstract]

Common Stock Activity

Common stock activity is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
Actual number of shares of common stock outstanding
Beginning of period		362,338,369			372,757,598			378,635,464
Shares of common stock issued through business combinations		—			52,698			75,083
Shares of common stock issued through compensation plans		3,482,699			4,107,501			4,940,195
Shares held for stock compensation plans		(280,339	)		—			—
Repurchases of common stock		(8,075,115	)		(14,579,428	)		(10,893,144	)
End of period		357,465,614			362,338,369			372,757,598

Summary of Dividends Declared on Nielsen's Common Stock

The following table represents the cash dividends declared by the Board and paid for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Declaration Date	Record Date	Payment Date	Dividend Per Share
February 19, 2015	March 5, 2015	March 19, 2015	$	0.25
April 20, 2015	June 4, 2015	June 18, 2015	$	0.28
July 23, 2015	August 27, 2015	September 10, 2015	$	0.28
October 29, 2015	November 24, 2015	December 8, 2015	$	0.28
February 18, 2016	March 3, 2016	March 17, 2016	$	0.28
April 19, 2016	June 2, 2016	June 16, 2016	$	0.31
July 21, 2016	August 25, 2016	September 8, 2016	$	0.31
October 20, 2016	November 22, 2016	December 6, 2016	$	0.31

Summary of Approved Authorized Shares for Repurchase

Board Approval	Share Repurchase Authorization ($ in millions)
July 25, 2013	$	500
October 23, 2014	$	1,000
December 11, 2015	$	500
Total Share Repurchase Authorization	$	2,000

Summary of Open Market Share Repurchases Activity

The activity for the year ended December 31, 2016 consisted of open market share repurchases and is summarized in the following table:

					Total Number of
					Shares Purchased as		Dollar Value of Shares
	Total Number		Average		Part of Publicly		that may yet be
	of Shares		Price Paid		Announced Plans		Purchased under the
Period	Purchased		per Share		or Programs		Plans or Programs
As of December 31, 2015		25,762,411	$	44.43		25,762,411	$	855,495,985
2016 Activity
January 1- 31		628,054	$	45.62		628,054	$	826,841,315
February 1- 28		687,473	$	47.41		687,473	$	794,246,197
March 1- 31		429,617	$	51.48		429,617	$	772,128,085
April 1-30		1,368,352	$	52.91		1,368,352	$	699,730,694
May 1-31		1,320,614	$	52.23		1,320,614	$	630,761,673
June 1-30		1,478,685	$	53.84		1,478,685	$	551,145,264
July 1-31		1,286,936	$	53.66		1,286,936	$	482,094,449
August 1-31		224,800	$	53.61		224,800	$	470,042,455
September 1-30		183,968	$	53.01		183,968	$	460,290,434
October 1-31		139,937	$	51.73		139,937	$	453,051,573
November 1-30		326,679	$	46.17		326,679	$	437,970,016
December 1-31		—	$	—		—	$	437,970,016
Total		33,837,526	$	46.16		33,837,526