Nielsen Bows To Agency Pressure, Will Continue 'Live' Local Data

Yielding to pressure from Madison Avenue, Nielsen announced a plan that would continue to make live-only local TV ratings data available for the foreseeable future. The move is an apparent attempt to ameliorate concerns from big spot TV buying agencies -- especially Publicis' SMGX and WPP's GroupM -- that expressed outrage over Nielsen's original plan to phase live-only ratings out of its local TV measurement service beginning Jan. 1. Nielsen described the modified plan as an "interim" solution, and said that live-only data would still be discontinued from its local overnight ratings service, but that the live-only data would continue to be available to agencies and others to analyze via its monthly Total Viewing Source reports. Nielsen said the modified plan would go into effect on Jan. 7, 2010, and will "continue on an interim basis." Originally, Nielsen said it was substituting live-only data with live-plus-same-day DVR playback data. The latter is a problem for media agencies and their clients. Now both will be included for TV sales and advertiser clients to consider.