Comscore, iSpot, VideoAmp Get New Nod from TV Measurement Committee
Three upstart media-measurement companies — Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp — are ready for primetime, and all other parts of the business of tracking TV audiences, according to a new audit by a TV-industry group that has been working to verify a passel of rivals to sector mainstay Nielsen.
The U.S. Joint Industry Committee, formed in 2023, consists of TV companies and media buyers, all working to delineate new measurement systems in an era when changes in viewing habits and the rise of broadband and mobile technology has many called for new ways of gauging audience activity around TV watching,
A review by the Joint Industry Committee, or JIC, found that the three companies’ audience-tracking technologies are ready to be used as currency in trading between advertiser and media outlets. Advertisers typically look for such technology to be audited by the Media Rating Council, an independent organization that vets all forms of media measurement in the U.S. Nielsen has come under new pressure as media clients such as Paramount Global, Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCUniversal test new alliances with upstart measurement services.
The JIC says its audit “was designed to ensure measurement providers can meet the baseline requirements for operational functionality, transparency and usability. Of particular note, Comscore has now met the JIC’s benchmark for transactability in personified demographics as part of the audit, joining iSpot and VideoAmp to offer the market three solutions that have been verified as transactable across personified demographics, households and advanced audiences.”
Nielsen in January said its Big Data + Panel national audience measurement technology, which relies on information about smart-TV screen viewership as well as the company’s usual panel of consumers, passed the scrutiny of the MRC, making it first to gain accreditation for the technology. The new data comes from audience interactions with cable and satellite set-top boxes and smart TVs across 45 million households and 75 million devices.
Still, there have been subsequent complaints from media outlets, with one industry organization, the Video Advertising Bureau, calling on Nielsen to make fixes to its new data systems.
The JIC audit analyzed infrastructure behind the companies’ ability to provide Big Data; examined two years of ad- and telecast-level data across all currency types; and scrutinized efforts to track audiences for sports, one of the most important programming genres across the industry.
“As innovation in measurement continues, it is critical that media buyers and sellers have the time and ability to thoroughly analyze updates to new methodology so that we can have confidence in each currency. This requires a level of transparency from each provider that ultimately breeds trust and confidence in their solution. We applaud Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp for their continued commitment to building and operationalizing currency grade solutions and equally as important for dedicating the time and resources to participating in this critical process,” the JIC said in a statement.
