Ad Tech Companies Are Partnering To Better Measure Cross-Platform Video Audiences

Last month two audience measurement/ad tech companies, iSpot and 605 both competitors to NielsenNLSN
, announced a partnership with Conviva. Conviva is a global streaming analytics company that provides data in real time to subscribers.

iSpot, which has a number of industry partnerships including. most notably. NBCU has been using Conviva data since last January. With the new agreement, iSpot will be embedding Conviva streaming data into their cross-platform audience measurement for ads and programming that will be available on the following day. In a statement, Emily Wood, VP of Business Development at iSpot.tv noted, “This collaboration makes it easy for all our network partners to authorize their first-party streaming data for use in our currency products and beyond.”

Shortly thereafter, 605, which provides to their clients, television and cross-platform measurement, analytics and attribution also announced a collaboration with Conviva. With the agreement, Conviva will provide 605 with audience deduplication and cross-platform measurement among other product enhancements. In a press release Kristin Dolan, CEO of 605 said, “For too long measurement in the U.S. has been fragmented and incapable of giving either the sell-side or the buy-side a consistent view of ad and content consumption in U.S. households. Through our collaboration with Conviva we will provide programmers, brands and agencies with timely and meaningful metrics to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their content and advertising.”

These collaborations come at a time when audiences continue to flock to streaming video. In July and August Nielsen’s Gauge Report found streaming video has had a greater audience share than either cable or broadcast television. That figure is expected to increase as NFL’s Thursday Night Football moved from FoxFOXA
to AmazonAMZN
Prime Video. Also, a growing number of programs on linear TV are being streamed the following day making audience deduplication and cross-platform measurement imperative.

Furthermore, as ad dollars allocated for linear television has flattened, more and more dollars are being invested in ad-supported streaming video. eMarketer forecasts this year streaming video will command $19.1 billion in dollars. With more content as well as Disney+ and NetflixNFLX
launching ad supported tiers in the upcoming months, eMarketer projects ad dollars to reach $29.5 billion in two years.

Conviva also reports a continued migration of viewing to streaming video. In its latest State of Streaming Report covering second quarter 2022, Conviva reported a global year-over-year increase in time spent of 13%. In the maturing North American market streaming grew by 5%.

Nielsen, which has been the primary source for measurement for more than seven decades, has also been active. In July. Nielsen announced an agreement to measure YouTube deduplicated audiences across computer, mobile and connected TV allowing for comparisons to linear TV viewing. According to The Gauge Report, in August, YouTube had an audience share of 7.6% matching Netflix.

Prior to the start of the football season Amazon announced a three-year agreement that will enable Nielsen to measure the audience of Thursday Night Football that are similar to ratings of NFL games on broadcast and cable television. It marks the first time a streaming program will be measured by Nielsen’s National TV service.

More recently, Nielsen reached a cross-platform agreement with Roku to measure traditional TV, connected TV, desktop and mobile. This will enable marketers to deduplicate the reach and frequency of an ad campaign.

For their first NFL game of the season, Amazon delivered the highest 18-to-34 year old ratings for any NFL game to date. Besides all but abandoning linear TV, young adults continue to be an important target for hundreds of advertisers. This highlights the importance of accurate cross-platform measurement and audience deduplication.