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Nielsen to Release Commercial Minute Ratings Dec. 11

Nielsen has unveiled a decision to begin releasing average commercial minute ratings beginning Dec. 11, but has stressed that the new ratings are being made available for evaluation purposes only.

The announcement follows months of discussion and speculation among advertisers, agencies and television networks. The measurement company’s decision to continue to aggressively deploy the new ratings despite industry concern has caused some clients to wonder what the real agenda is, writes MediaPost. Only TV clients who choose to opt in to the ratings will be able to receive them.

The decision puts cable networks, especially, in a bind. They have expressed major concerns about the way Nielsen plans to process the new ratings. If they participate in the test, then they may be providing a tacit endorsement of the new ratings, but if they sit the process out, they will not only not have direct access to the data but they will also be excluded from influencing it, according to the article.

Some of the issues at hand are the fact that Nielsen plans to give minutes with even fractions of commercials in them the same weight as minutes that are all or mostly commercial time, and the question of whether DVR playback viewing will be included in the data. There is also the concern among cable networks that Nielsen monitors commercial data differently between broadcast and cable networks.

Nielsen plans to offer the service for free for the first year.