Nielsen to Release Fourth Screen Metrics

For the first time, audiences for 10 of the largest place-based video ad networks are being delivered in a single report using standardized metrics. The Nielsen Co. April 12 plans to release its inaugural Fourth Screen Network Audience Report, which is expected to raise the profile of this highly fragmented but growing industry, in time for the upfront TV planning season.Nielsen’s report, which tracks fourth-quarter 2009 activity, includes monthly age and sex audience figures expressed as gross exposures, in order to more easily compare to the other three screens the company measures: TV, Internet and mobile. Spending on place-based video ad networks is forecast to grow 8.8 percent to $1.6 billion this year, per PQ Media. But without standardized metrics and the ability to compare networks side by side, advertisers and agencies have found justifying the medium as part of video ad budgets a real challenge. “Clearly these place-based networks are a growing opportunity, but it’s difficult to figure out what the opportunity is,” said Todd Gordon, senior vp and director of national broadcast for Initiative. “Having multiple companies fall under the same rigor and metrics as other media makes it easier for us to buy and explain the opportunity to clients.” The report shows a strong reach medium that can hold its own with TV and other media. Nielsen found that in October it would take 20 prime-time ads to reach the same audience as a typical monthlong ad flight across NCM and Screenvision networks. In terms of audience, cinema would be ranked the sixth largest TV network in the U.S., noted Cliff Marks, president of sales and marketing for NCM.“This puts us on a whole new playing field,” said Dennis Roche, president of Zoom Media & Marketing, which has three networks measured in the report, including Zoom Social, the top-rated network for reaching men.The cinema networks, which represent about 40 percent of the segment, have already made inroads into national TV budgets.Just last week, Starcom invited National CineMedia, ranked No. 1 in the Fourth Screen report, to participate in the shop’s upfront presentation week. GroupM also buys cinema out of its TV group. “About half of our revenue comes from TV budgets, the other half from out-of-home,” said Mike Chico, evp of sales and marketing for Screenvision.Nielsen readily admits the Fourth Screen report is only a first step in providing the industry with the metrics needed to grow. It’s not easy to resolve qualitative differences in the venues and environment, such as size of screen and the presence and quality of audio. “We wanted to create order and simplicity,” said Paul Linstrom, senior vp for Nielsen. “It’s light years beyond what anyone else is doing.”“We’re a hybrid of out-of-home [and] national broadcast,” added NCM’s Marks. “The impact of cinema with our captive audience and big screen makes us more valuable than the pure notion of an impression.”

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Nielsen to Release Fourth Screen Metrics

Katy Bachman

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Katy Bachman