Naturally AdAge is the type of publication to understand the importance of this development:

Walt Disney Co.’s ABC issued a statement today confirming the network was prepared to negotiate with agencies using the existing ratings metric of “live only,” meaning it will only charge marketers for viewers who watch programs when they are aired (and not for viewers who watch later using a digital video recorder).

The issue of which metric to base this year’s upfront negotiations on has held up deals. Media agencies were united in their stand that they would only pay for live viewers, while the broadcast networks wanted to charge for those viewers who watched programs either later that same day (live plus same day) or later that week (live plus seven days). But late last week, ABC began to soften its stance, offering to negotiate with buyers on “live plus same day.”

Perhaps the silver lining in the networks’ clouds is that they will try to make up for the loss of advertising in TV via their new internet properties.