The deal, signed for an undisclosed sum, will cover 49 News Corporation channels including Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Sports Net and the National Geographic Channel.
Taking more than a year to hammer out this latest deal marks an end to hostilities between the two firms over the 2004 introduction of Nielsen's National People Meter system. News Corporation had questioned its accuracy after the system recorded a ratings slump for a number of the media giant's minority-focused programmes.
Gary Ginsberg, News Corporation's executive vice-president of corporate affairs, said a key factor in securing the deal was "Nielsen's willingness to take concrete and ongoing steps to ensure that its measurement systems accurately count all viewers".
This includes a pledge by Nielsen to plough $50m into initatives to improve response rates among ethnic communities and young viewers.
Ginsberg said: "We're very pleased to put our differences with Nielsen behind us and to usher in a new era of constructive and even deeper relations between our two companies."
Dave Thomas, Nielsen senior-vice president for stategy and business, said that the two firms had "worked tirelessly for months to craft", what he calls a "landmark agreement".
Meanwhile Nielsen's launch of a ratings system for TV commercials has run into problems after a number of cable channels said they would not participate. Channels such as Walt Disney's ESPN and Time Warner's CNN were reacting after industry body the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau highlighted a number of flaws in the system.
Nielsen is understood to be addressing these objections ahead of the scheduled release of the first data on December 11.
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