Keeping Score In Media Measurement 2023: Nielsen And Its Competitors

At the halfway point of the advertising upfront period, it’s way past time for the media business to figure out the next generation of media measurement and ad currency. The decline of cable subscriptions, falling linear TV ratings, the uncertain economic climate, and unproven streaming business models all cry out for creative collaboration of media buyers and sellers. But at least so far, getting traditional and digital media buyers and sellers to agree on alternative yardsticks for measuring media consumption and valuing it has all too often taken on a Shakespearean cast of “sound and fury, signifying nothing.” How does the logjam break?

It strikes me that we (ok, I?) could use a handy dandy “scorecard” of who exactly some of the key players are in this advanced media measurement game, what they are trying to do and how they relate to each other. With apologies to dictionary and encyclopedia fans everywhere, I’m not proceeding in alphabetical order, but hopefully in one that makes some narrative sense.

Nielsen

Despite – or because of – its monopolistic market power as ad currency, Nielsen suffered the wrath of media sellers for decades, with no real rival, further fueling a dearth of innovation and a preponderance of arrogance. One of the first battles I was thrown into in my NBC Cable days was arguing with Nielsen about changes we needed in our agreement with them. The response from Nielsen? Something to the effect of “Changes?! We don’t need no stinkin’ changes!”

Among other complaints was that Nielsen was at the mercy of its relatively tiny sample of Nielsen subscribers as a proxy for the viewing habits of all TV households. One of the greatest threats to Nielsen was the Media Research Council’s stripping Nielsen’s TV ratings system of their accreditation in September 2021. After almost two years, however, that accreditation was restored in April 2023. In the interregnum, the industry remains far from unified on the (or even “an”) accepted alternative to Nielsen measurement. Nielsen itself is seeking to fight back with its Nielsen ONE
ONE
cross-platform measurement. It may or may not be the answer for everyone, but the likelihood is that the media advertising world is going to have Nielsen to kick around for a fair bit longer.

Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)

The IAB is far from the only trade association in the media advertising world, joined by the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), the Association of American Advertising Agencies (4As), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) and many more. You’ll never have the myriad ad business stakeholders speak with one voice – nor should they. But IAB has forged an interesting heterogeneous role in the industry as an advocate for digital media publishers, as a measuring stick of market size through its annual Internet Advertising Revenue Report, as a clearinghouse through the IAB Tech Lab for efforts to standardize ad formats and policies in areas such as privacy, and as a consistent presence in the ubiquitous ad industry conference circuit. They are as good a hub as any for the divergent factions of the business.

Joint Industry Committee (“JIC”)

The “JIC” is the heart of the effort by traditional media companies to develop and legitimize an alternative ad currency to Nielsen that can be accepted by both competing media company ad sellers as well as agency ad buyers. Unquestionably, there is a seriousness of purpose and dedication of resources from the partners in this effort. Look at this lineup: “the owners of the four major broadcast networks; cable channel operators, including Viacom
PARA
and Discovery; three of the country’s biggest-spending advertisers, Procter & Gamble
PG
, AT&T
T
and Unilever; and two of the biggest advertising agency holding companies, GroupM and the Starcom MediaVest Group unit of the Publicis Groupe.”

Impressive assemblage, right? Unfortunately for those seeking to depose Nielsen, this was the group that came together in an ultimately unsuccessful ad currency coup in 2009. Today’s JIC is thus treading on familiar ground, and despite the far more desperate ad market circumstances today, challenges still abound. The JIC doesn’t include Disney, a frequent outlier in industry collaborations. The media companies created a proprietary tech platform through Open AP that they would still like to be a foundation of this Nielsen competitor, so will the JIC be independent enough from the control of the companies who own this platform? After spending years decrying the digital giants for “grading their own homework,” will the JIC demonstrate sufficient objectivity to be treated as a reliable, objective standard for ad measurement and currency?

NBCU Certified Measurement Program

In addition to the JIC, each of the major media companies have developed their own paths to offering the market alternatives to Nielsen currency. Paramount launched “Velocity” (the alliteration worked better with Viacom), Disney created “Luminate,” and NBCU has “OnePlatform.” Although NBCU lost their fearless leader Linda Yaccarino, they have demonstrated no let up in their commitment to Nielsen alternatives, and last year they announced their tech partners in this process. If you want one “placemat” view of the new measurement landscape, NBCU’s is a pretty good one, laying out the stunning array of folks playing at this game in areas from initial audience measurement through aligning and understanding client business outcomes.

Ad Tech Media Partners

As the NBCU roadmap lays out, there are a lot of these folks out there, some of whom would probably blanch at being included within an “ad tech” group. Nonetheless, at a high level, here a very few of what may well be foundational players in the emerging new ad currency ecosystem:

· VideoAmp – By at least some indications, VideoAmp might be the early leader in this alternative ad currency game, which I can at least anecdotally attest to. They are the preferred currency partners of media companies such as Warner Bros. Discovery and are working with a host of other media companies and agencies as well. Do players like this stay independent? That’s a looming question.

· iSpot.tv – NBCU selected iSpot as its preferred ad currency platform over a year ago, boosting its marketing positioning, and given NBCU’s aggressive role in Open AP and the JIC, they would seem to have a legitimate “seat at the table” as the industry sorts through its alternative approaches.

· Comscore
SCOR
– Founded in 1999, if there is a “legacy” company in new media measurement (is that an oxymoron?) it might be Comscore. The company still owns the de facto scorecard for measuring theatrical box office and was viewed not too many years ago as the most likely, or at least most hoped for, Nielsen competitor. Comscore has had to weather a long list of corporate challenges but continues to play a key role as an alternative research tool for buyers and sellers.

· ACR (automatic content recognition) providers – The “TV data guys,” with Samba TV and LG Ads among the still-emerging market leasers. TV set manufacturers such as LG, Vizio and Samsung have for many consumers replaced CTV devices as their means of accessing streaming apps. This space will clearly consolidate, but if you want a comprehensive view of what consumers are really watching, this data is a key ingredient in any future ad currency solution.

This is a game where the lineup is constantly changing, so stay tuned. And in the meantime, play ball!