Nielsen says processing problems delay its weekly ratings file

The beleaguered Nielsen company says its weekly report on how much television programs are being watched will be delayed until at least Thursday.

The weekly ratings are usually delivered Tuesday, although Monday holidays generally delay them for a day. Nielsen was not being specific about why the numbers did not come out Wednesday, blaming processing delays.

Nielsen's television ratings are the primary currency for the multi-billion dollar television industry because the numbers are used to set ad rates.

Broadcast ratings from the past few weeks were also stripped from Nielsen's website. The company admitted last week to a software error that affected ratings since March, and numbers from recent weeks are being recalculated to account for the error.