And Nielsen's reply...
While Nielsen is working on a formal reply to the list, Nielsen spokesperson Jack Loftus (pictured) responded to TVBR on the issue. Ironically, the AAAAs chose to send the letter first to a trade pub instead of Susan Whiting. Jack first clears up the confusion in the letter regarding commercial ratings data and Nielsen saying it was up to the customers, not Nielsen, to decide if the data was "stable" enough to use as currency. He said if there's not enough data for stability, then they won't report it. But "We think there will be enough of it because we report the program ratings. And what we're doing is extrapolating the commercial minutes from the total time ratings, so we don't think that's going to be an issue, but we'll be looking at it. The point of it is if they choose to negotiate on this, that's up to them. What they're trying to do is create hobgoblins that aren't there yet."
"We were informed by the AAAA on Thursday that they were sending us a letter, but that a draft of the letter had already been sent to a trade press reporter. The AAAA e-mailed us a letter. We are working on a reply. We don't know if the letter was shared with the ANA (Assn. of National Advertisers) or if the letter reflects the viewpoint of the advertisers. The letter appears to have been written by researchers [the ANA declined comment on the issue]. Earlier, Nielsen sent a letter to the Committee on Nationwide Cable Audience Measurement (CONCAM) in response to a letter they sent to us about commercial-minute ratings. This is what we said:
'Though a group of national broadcast clients have requested this data in MIT format to make it easier for them to potentially use it as a basis for their negotiations with advertisers and agencies, ultimately the marketplace will decide if this file may be used as a currency application. Different client groups (agencies, cable networks, broadcast networks and syndicators) may decide to request and utilize variations of this type of aggregated commercial minute file that they feel best suit their needs. Nielsen has not recommended a preferred approach to any client group, nor has Nielsen agreed to replace current audience estimates included in our base service with a new one.
We will continue to meet with national clients individually and in groups to discuss this topic. We encourage all of our client groups to provide specific concerns, recommendations and suggestions for a single definition of a national commercial minute that could be used consistently across all national client groups. We are working to assemble some data comparing different possible definitions for a commercial minute that we intend to share with all interested national clients'."
Loftus added, "We had a request from the networks to make this available and we said we can. We never said we were going to establish it as currency or that they would have to use it. That's not our job. Our job is to make the data available, and if the industry decides how it wants to use it-just like what happened in the upfront. We made Live, Live Plus and Live Plus Seven Day available. And the advertisers decided they wanted to negotiate on Live Only. We didn't care-that's what negotiations are all about, let them figure it out. But what they want to do is force Nielsen to do something that's favorable to one side of the industry as opposed to the other, and Nielsen is in the middle. We're trying to make the data available because we can now. They've been yelling for this stuff for years. So you've got to be careful what you wish for. The industry has to decide how they want to use it for negotiating purposes."
TVBR observation:
ANA CEO Robert Liodice was "unavailable" for comment. Why? We hear he didn't get a copy of the letter yet and need time to go over before any comment could be made. Not sure if all the 4As issues were congruent with the ANA or not. We hope to clear the issue up-perhaps the ANA was indeed informed of the letter and is on the same page as the AAAAs on these issues.
It's really quite complicated, the struggle for defining currencies. Agencies have some very valid questions here and want more backing from Nielsen to offer up suggestions for defined metrics, currencies and standards. Nielsen is saying here is the data-you decide how to use it and what standards you want to make out of it. Nielsen doesn't want to get in the middle, but is politely being asked to give it a try. It's a matter of work now needed to get everyone on board. Where do the networks stand? Response tomorrow. At least one group in the triumvirate of agencies, networks and Nielsen should put it all on paper and see where the others agree on commercial ratings.
