Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 1,641	$ 1,570	$ 4,811	$ 4,653
Cost of revenues, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below	692	642	2,031	1,937
Selling, general and administrative expenses, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below	445	452	1,387	1,391
Depreciation and amortization	160	151	477	450
Restructuring charges	7	29	48	73
Operating income	337	296	868	802
Interest income	1	1	3	3
Interest expense	(95)	(85)	(277)	(247)
Foreign currency exchange transaction gains/(losses), net		2	(9)	(3)
Other expense, net	(1)		(3)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	242	214	582	555
Provision for income taxes	(92)	(82)	(226)	(208)
Net income	150	132	356	347
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	4	2	8	4
Net income attributable to Nielsen stockholders	$ 146	$ 130	$ 348	$ 343
Net income per share of common stock, basic
Net income attributable to Nielsen stockholders	$ 0.41	$ 0.36	$ 0.98	$ 0.95
Net income per share of common stock, diluted
Net income attributable to Nielsen stockholders	$ 0.41	$ 0.36	$ 0.97	$ 0.94
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, basic	356,426,891	357,088,498	356,881,905	359,303,099
Dilutive shares of common stock	1,265,224	3,486,309	1,391,915	3,686,397
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, diluted	357,692,115	360,574,807	358,273,820	362,989,496
Dividends declared per common share	$ 0.34	$ 0.31	$ 0.99	$ 0.90