Planners Watch DirecTV-Nielsen Deal; Creation of Satellite TV Ratings Service Has Broad Implications for Ad Industry.(Media Planner)(DirecTV reaches a deal with Nielsen Media Research to develop a satellite TV ratings service)

Byline: Joe Mandese Special to TelevisionWeek

DirecTV's deal with Nielsen Media Research to create a satellite TV ratings service has several important media planning implications.

First and most obvious, ad agency executives say it will help legitimize DirecTV as a component of national TV advertising plans, something that should help its ad sales rep, Sony Pictures Television, make greater headway on Madison Avenue. Second, the deal indirectly casts new doubts on the ad industry's long-sought-after goal of creating a new TV audience measurement service to cover digital set-top households.

With 11.5 million households, DirecTV represents a key component of the critical mass that would be …