• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 7, 2009

If the TV environment isn't tough enough -- with almost all network TV shows getting lower and lower ratings -- now Nielsen, the omnipresent TV audience measuring company, has offered up no TV viewing data gpt shows over the last four days.

Maybe those increasingly lower TV ratings have -- I'm guessing --really disappeared. Nielsen can't find them -- which works well with the fact that TV networks can't find viewers for shows.

Don't tell me everything is going to cable. Cable networks -- especially the more established ones, such as Discovery and MTV -- have had their share of down ratings periods. This common occurrence can make those networks look more like broadcast networks.

Many TV research critics might be thinking good riddance -- especially considering the problems Nielsen has had from time to time. But Nielsen has been the only TV currency the advertising business has ever had. It's tough to shake.

Futurist media researchers have been predicting the end of this old-style viewer and demo tabulation for some time now, wanting better behavioral TV research, more combined consumer product/TV viewing research, hopeful engagement metrics, and overall return-on-investment guarantees.

We are in the crucial May sweep period -- just days before TV networks are getting ready to decide on new shows for next year. While Nielsen's delay is unprecedented, I doubt any TV executives needed those last four days to make any final decisions for the likes of bubble shows like "Chuck," "Cold Case," or "Reaper." Those verdicts are, for the most part, already in.

This delay may be harder on media buying executives looking to get post analysis for their clients -- and subsequently make good inventory, to complete their network agreements.

Worried about TV dollars headed to other media due to these snafus? Not likely.

Marketers that use TV still stick to what works -- even in these unusual times. Even the worst of Nielsen gives the TV marketplace a consistent currency to compare and analyze TV programming, which the newer digital media platforms still don't have.

What remains is more uncertainty and riskier guessing games. But it seems we are still destined for familiar results.