Roehm

Preliminary details of a controversial online trading system for buying and selling traditional media could be announced as early as today.

The announcement will come from a task force comprising members of the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies and tasked with the development of the online ad auction for traditional media, reports MediaPost (via MediaBuyerPlanner). The trading system has been controversial because some big media companies, including major TV networks, which fear that such a system would "commoditize" their medium and drive prices down.

The next phase of the project will focus on quelling such concerns of big media. The initiative grew out of an idea proposed by Wal-Mart senior VP for marketing communications Julie Roehm, who calls the concept a Nasdaq for media, referring to Wall Street's famous electronic trading systems.

In May, Roehm called for advertisers to contribute $50 million for a test of the system, for which eBay will provide the backbone. The test, slated for early next year, is expected to focus on network TV, though some top TV executives have said they will not participate.