Move to Live +1, Trade Bodies Tell Nielsen

US ad agency association the 4A's has teamed up with broadcast industry body the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) to ask Nielsen to replace its Live Only data stream with Live +1 - recognising the change in viewing habits towards time-shifted.

Live Only data covers viewing at the actual time a show is telecast - any delay of more than 25 seconds from the recorded time means it is not included. The proposal assumes these figures would still be available through Nielsen, but would not appear as a published stream. Live +1 data includes any viewing within 24 hours of a prerecorded program - such as cases where consumers are starting programs but then pausing them and finishing them at their own pace, and where they view programs on other devices not following traditional program schedules.

Ironically, when Nielsen moved eight years ago to focus more on time-shifted viewing, the TVB was enthusiastic but the 4A's was anything but, calling plans to replace live-only data with a new 'Live + Same Day' rating 'totally unacceptable', and accusing the ratings firm of 'sacrificing its credibility' as an 'honest broker' of data and information.

Clearly, times have changed, and Louis Jones, EVP of the 4A's Media & Data Practice, said of the latest proposals: 'Live +1 is a step forward in recognizing that the shifts in local media consumption are dynamic, and it's our job to keep pace with consumers. It also marks significant progress in empowering media buyers with more actionable and accurate audience data to make buying decisions with'. TVB President Steve Lanzano says the Live +1 stream is 'now the best representation of the spot TV audience', and adds: 'Live +1 also very closely aligns with and is the best surrogate of national C7 ratings, which has become the predominant national transaction currency'.

Discussions on the proposal are ongoing.

The 4A's serves 740 member agencies across 1,400 offices which control more than 85 percent of total US advertising spend. TVB represents America's $21 billion local broadcast television industry, with more than 800 members including individual TV stations, television broadcast groups, advertising sales reps, syndicators, international broadcasters and associate members.

Web sites are at www.nielsen.com , www.aaaa.org and www.tvb.org .