WarnerMedia, Paramount Test New March Madness Measurement

WarnerMedia and Paramount have brought alternative measurement to March Madness. The companies have teamed up for the first-ever alternative measurement test during the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. Powered by Conviva and in partnership with Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp, the publishers are measuring ad performance across multiple platforms during the tournament, including linear, digital and streaming, as well as out of home. CBS and Turner Sports share the broadcasting rights for the tournament and jointly operate NCAA March Madness Live, the streaming platform for the games. “When we first decided to engage on this initiative, it’s a multi-publisher, multi-measurement partner, multiple games over multiple weeks endeavor,” Andrea Zapata, WarnerMedia’s head of research, data and insights, told Adweek. “It was no easy task to get this done. We knew that the imperative was to actually demonstrate the strength of higher-value metrics, different types of metrics.” CBS, Turner Sports Sell Out March Madness Ad Inventory With Record Revenue Both Paramount and WarnerMedia had been separately exploring alternative measurement partners in various test-and-learn environments, but this is the first time the publishers have joined forces. “As measurement evolves throughout the space, it only works if there’s broad support, not only for these types of initiatives, but if we can all put our heads together as an industry to understand, who are the partners that we should be working with?” said Travis Scoles, Paramount’s svp of advanced advertising. “What do we really think they bring from a differentiated perspective? And what can we bring to our buyers as solutions that spans across publisher communities?” Expanding metrics to show tournament success While tournament success is most commonly looked at from a ratings perspective, WarnerMedia and Paramount believe that ratings are just one baseline indicator, with Zapata pointing to cross-screen viewership, speed of data and insights and the ability to measure campaign metrics. “Share of voice of impressions against an advanced audience set, and then to do it not just on the counting side, but looking at it from a granularity from a regional, to a geo, just the way in which the nature of the of the tournament goes,” said Zapata. “And all of these partners totally stepped up to the plate.” Paramount and WarnerMedia have been gathering data throughout the tournament, and following the championship game will release a report with their findings. “We see a space in the future where there’s multiple players that people are transacting against, and it creates a competitive and innovative environment on the measurement side,” said Scoles. The publishers saw March Madness as the ideal opportunity to explore alternative measurement due to its popularity and multiple viewing options. “Aligning across multiple publishers with all the different teams involved created a really interesting atmosphere for us to have a dialogue with our measurement partners,” said Scoles. “This is not what Paramount needs. This is not what WarnerMedia needs. This is what the industry needs.” Earlier this year, NBCUniversal teamed up with iSpot for several Q1 measurement tests, including trials during 2022's other biggest sporting events: Super Bowl 56 and the Winter Olympics. Different pieces of the puzzle Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp all provide different pieces of the puzzle to successful measure the tournament. Earlier this year, WarnerMedia partnered with the three companies to test alternative methods of measuring TV ad performance across platforms and last year Paramount teamed up with VideoAmp for data trials across OpenAP’s XPm framework. “The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will be viewed by 100 million Americans or more this year and both the networks and the brands deserve to have every second of attention verified, counted and contextualized. That can only be done using a modern system that measures ads separately from programs, at scale,” said Stu Schwartzapfel, svp of media partnerships at iSpot, in a statement. According to Zapata, Comscore brings local granularity, iSpot specializes in real-time reporting, cross-screen and inclusive of out of home, and VideoAmp focuses on advanced audiences that helps bring salient points for advertisers, including impressions. While the publishers aren’t yet ready to share any learnings, Scoles said that initial results include information from every partner around new and innovative metrics. In the streaming environment, the report will measure new and incremental viewers, if viewers watched the 2021 tournament and whether their viewing patterns differed from the previous year. “We wanted to understand not only were we attracting new viewers, but were there different markets of time throughout the day, so daytime might look different than primetime,” said Zapata. “If you’re spending time across multiple devices, how many more games are you actually consuming? This gives us even greater conviction that it doesn't have to be a one measurement shop place anymore.” Eyeing the upfronts With the upfronts just a few weeks away, Paramount and WarnerMedia expect the measurement test will play a large role in the conversations. “It’s been the topic du jour with agencies, and I have no doubt that they’re carving off portions of their investment to be transacted off of an alternative measurement,” said Zapata. While Paramount is already activating these types of deals, Scoles expects to continue the conversations at the upfronts. Scoles believes that measurement and currency are about to fundamentally change in the industry, pointing to the upcoming rollout of Nielsen One. “Everything is going to have to be rethought. Instead of being reactive and trying to understand how can the industry figure out what does this mean for us, let's get ahead of that. Let's be very proactive,” he added. News broke this week that Nielsen has been acquired by a consortium of private equity firms for $16 billion following a year of measurement woes. While the company has promised to make the appropriate fixes, the partnership between WarnerMedia and Paramount is the latest example of other media companies creating their own measurement alternatives.

Measurement

WarnerMedia, Paramount Team Up for March Madness Alternative Measurement Test

The companies partnered with Conviva, Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp for the first-ever tournament trials

Mollie Cahillane

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Mollie Cahillane