NBCU Sets iSpot.tv as First Alternative Measurement Partner

NBCUniversal is the latest media company to not only line up its first partners as it creates alternative measurement currencies following Nielsen’s significant stumbles last year—but also set up its first test of that offering for early this year. ISpot.tv has been tapped as NBCUniversal’s first certified measurement partner in the company’s efforts to create a new currency for cross-platform measurement on its One Platform ad offering. The companies will team up for Q1 currency tests across One Platform, involving ads and program ratings, that will include next month’s Super Bowl 56 and Winter Olympics Additionally, Publicis Media will be the first holding company to test NBCUniversal’s new measurement, starting this quarter. Ultimately, iSpot.tv, which signed a multi-year deal with NBCU, will be one of many measurement partners NBCUniversal selects as it creates a currency that paints a more complete consumer picture. The company said it will announce additional certified measurement partners as they become certified. WarnerMedia Sets Comscore, iSpot.tv and VideoAmp for Its Measurement Alternative NBCUniversal said its new currency will help solve for essential advertiser needs like speed and transparency, cross-platform view and accurate data—and the company expects to begin transacting on it in this year’s upfront. “This is not a shift away from one panel-based system to another, but a definitive step toward embracing the metrics brands already use to evaluate media companies,” Kelly Abcarian, evp, measurement and impact, NBCUniversal, said in a statement. “We have an obligation to deliver consumers a great experience, and an obligation to our customers and shareholders to utilize measurement systems that adequately capture the reach, attention and outcomes we deliver. Our learnings from this partnership will help transform our measurement solutions as we head into the next upfront season, and bring advertisers more data that accurately reflects our audiences, their consumption habits and campaign impact.” NBCUniversal advertisers will have access to iSpot.tv data for linear, streaming and time-shifted viewing, and receive next-day reports that include metrics like verified ad impressions, reach and frequency as well as linear and streaming overlap. Measurement data will be available at the household and person level, for age and gender demos, in addition to customized audience segments. Some marketers will have access to impact measurements, like granular attention and interruption rates, as well as business-outcome reporting. “Through this test-and-learn across NBCUniversal’s One Platform, PMX will be able to provide its portfolio of brands a more accurate, holistic approach to measurement that prioritizes performance and impact,” John Muszynski, chairman, Publicis Media Exchange (PMX) U.S., said in a statement. “The results of this partnership will serve as the blueprint for the marketplace to transact using improved measurement during the 2022-2023 upfront cycle.” NBCU has been working with iSpot.tv since 2014, when it was one of the early networks to subscribe to verified impressions data when iSpot.tv first commercialized smart TV data. “NBCU is leaning into giving advertisers what they want: fast, accurate and granular cross-platform measurement that proves the value of investments,” Sean Muller, founder and CEO of iSpot.tv, said in a statement. Alternative measurement mania It’s shaping up to be a busy quarter for iSpot.tv, which is also one of the three measurement companies that WarnerMedia has tapped for the first tests of its own measurement alternative, alongside Comscore and VideoAmp. ViacomCBS, meanwhile, is partnering with VideoAmp and Dentsu on data trials this quarter as it also explores alternate currencies to Nielsen. And Comscore has created its own unified measurement offering—Comscore Everywhere—to compete with Nielsen’s upcoming Nielsen One. All of these companies have been creating their alternative measurement offerings following Nielsen's missteps last year related to audience undercounting during the pandemic. After the Media Rating Council stripped Nielsen’s national and local TV ratings services of their accreditation in September, Nielsen admitted last month that it had also undercounted out-of-home audiences for national TV programming since September 2020. NBCUniversal has been working on alternative currency plans since last summer, and received more than 100 proposals from measurement companies about how best to verify and measure audiences. Last October, NBCU assembled the Measurement Innovation Forum, comprised of nearly three dozen brands, agencies and trade bodies, to participate in testing out new measurement options and providing feedback at the effectiveness of alternative approaches to measuring the industry. The recently-announced NBCUnified—NBCUniversal’s new cookie-free, first-party identity platform for marketers—will serve as the data spine for these new measurement initiatives. NBCUniversal Creates Cookie-Free, First-Party Identity Platform for Marketers

Measurement

NBCU Sets iSpot.tv as First Alternative Measurement Partner

Q1 trial to include Super Bowl 56 and Winter Olympics; Publicis Media first holding company to test new currency

Jason Lynch

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