• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, September 3, 2009

Two years after introducing commercial ratings as the official currency of the TV advertising marketplace, Nielsen Wednesday launched a system that will enable networks and syndicators to automatically log when and where their commercials ran. The system, Nielsen executives said, will make it easier and more consistent for networks to log the data, and will reduce the chances that discrepancies will occur when the data is integrated to produce Nielsen's average commercial minute ratings - also known as C3 ratings.

Plans for the system, dubbed the Log Automation System, were originally announced in January, and it is being rolled out now to ensure that it is in place for the launch of the new TV season later this month.

The system will enable Nielsen to avoid the kinds of problems and inconsistencies it first encountered when it introduced its C3 ratings two years ago, and is expected to help Nielsen comply with an official industry audit and accreditation process being conducted by TV ratings watchdog, the Media Rating Council.

The C3 ratings involve a multi-step, hybrid process that requires the integration of Nielsen's TV ratings panel with TV commercial data monitored by its Monitor-Plus system. Early on, Nielsen began requesting additional commercial log data to verify that the commercial data being tracked by Monitor-Plus was accurate. While the major broadcast networks and TV syndication companies had historically been supplying Nielsen with their commercial log data, the process was new for most, if not all cable networks, and Nielsen initially had problems integrating their commercial log data accurately into the new ratings system.

A Nielsen spokesman confirmed that the new automated log system is 100% compliant for all networks, including cable.