How To Measure TV And Video Viewership When Every Currency Is Different

The main differences between Nielsen, Comscore, iSpot, and VideoAmp's TV measurement methods include:

• Comscore offers one measurement platform for both national and local TV, aiming to make local ads more accessible for small businesses.
• Nielsen keeps national and local measurements separate due to slightly different set-top box data used for representing local audiences.
• The methodologies vary in terms of whether they provide impression-level measurement or ratings based on average commercial minutes, or both, as mentioned by iSpot Founder and CEO Sean Muller.
• Each provider has its own specialty that affects how it integrates data sets, leading to natural disparities between competitors.

Advertisers choose a currency that aligns with their priorities, leveraging these differences to their advantage.

First-party data can be used to improve TV currency measurement by:

• Allowing measurement companies to better attribute viewership overlap between streaming services, providing deduped reach and frequency.
• Enabling more consistent forecasting capabilities for streaming campaigns due to statistically significant data.
• Unlocking the TV metrics that advertisers care about the most, such as online and/or in-store sales lift.

For instance, the JIC is building a streaming data product that includes first-party audience and viewership data from programmers and agencies, which will be accessible to Comscore and VideoAmp as JIC-certified currencies when it launches next year.

TV ad buyers and sellers face several challenges with the current state of TV measurement, including:

• Measurement disparities among different providers, as seen in the example where Nielsen’s and iSpot’s viewership counts for the Super Bowl differed by about 3 million viewers.
• A lack of standardization in reporting, making it difficult to determine which currency measures campaigns most accurately.
• The need for more first-party data to ensure statistically significant and consistent forecasting capabilities for streaming campaigns.

These challenges highlight the need for some level of standardization and collaboration among TV currency providers, despite their reluctance to share data as indicated by their response during the CIMM summit.

The role of the JIC (Joint Industry Committee) in TV currency measurement is to certify currencies like Comscore and VideoAmp as national TV currencies and to facilitate the development of measurement standards. The JIC is also involved in creating products such as a streaming data product that incorporates first-party audience and viewership data from programmers and agencies. This product aims to provide more consistent and accurate measurement data, and as JIC-certified currencies, Comscore and VideoAmp will have access to it upon its launch next year.

TV measurement is considered a 'more organized mess' currently because, despite the challenges and disparities in measurement methods among different providers, there are efforts underway to improve consistency and accuracy. These efforts include the integration of first-party data, the development of new data products by the JIC, and individual initiatives by companies like Nielsen to incorporate streaming data into their ratings. While the industry has not yet reached a standardized approach, these steps represent progress towards organizing and refining the TV measurement landscape.