• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, July 3, 2009

Nielsen Thursday officially announced the launch of local people meter service in Portland, OR, and Pittsburgh, replacing its "set meter" service in those markets, but said it was delaying a previously planned launch of the service in Baltimore until July 7th, due to a "very difficult conversion to digital television" in that market.

"For that reason, Nielsen is taking a few extra days to further examine audience trends (before and after the DTV conversion; LPM and Set Meter samples) to ensure the accuracy of the LPM service. Our evaluation so far has not turned up any problems. However, given the current market situation we believe a prudent course of action is most appropriate," Nielsen said in a notice to clients.

As a result, Nielsen's older set meter sample will remain the advertising trading currency in Baltimore at least until next Tuesday.

"At that time, assuming no issues are identified, LPM service will commence with data being available as currency back to the original start date of July 2nd," Nielsen stated.