• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 10, 2006

A week after the American Association of Advertising Agencies' Media Policy Committee called on the media to provide more accountable audience data, including commercial ratings, another major media shop said it has agreed to license minute-by-minute ratings data from Nielsen Media Research. ZenithOptimedia Thursday said it negotiated a deal to receive full access to Nielsen's minute-by-minute ratings database, with commercial minutes identified within it.

Sister Publicis agency Starcom MediaVest Group announced a similar deal earlier this year, along with cable network The Weather Channel. While the minute-by-minute data isn't exactly commercial ratings, agency executives believe it is a close surrogate, as long as ratings for specific commercial minutes can be identified.

As part of the ZenithOptimedia deal, sister brand agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and TeamOne will also have access to the data.

ZenithOptimedia said the Nielsen data would be downloaded directly into its proprietary software systems to conduct its own processing.

The deal, which comes on the eve of Nielsen's national client meetings next week, means that most of Publicis Groupe's media clients will have a significant strategic advantage in their TV ratings analysis.

The Weather Channel, however, will provide all advertisers and agencies that buy time on the network during the 2006-07 upfront season with data to post their buys on the basis of Nielsen's minute-by-minute ratings.