Nielsen expect its latest move in addressable TV will represent “the biggest change to measurement and to the TV currency in at least the last decade”.
The company just announced it will add measurement of 55 million addressable devices, including smart TV and set-top box return-path data, into its national TV currency ratings.
Specifically, Nielsen will add DirecTV (Xandr), DISH, Nielsen Advanced Video Advertising and Vizio data using the Vizio-backed Project OAR standard. It represents a big shift for ad buyers that have been calling for better, more TV-like measurement of a promising ad channel.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, Nielsen audience measurement GM Scott Brown describes what is happening.
Unlocking inventory
“It really kind of unlocks the C3, C7 inventory,” he says. “It allows those providers that were certifying to insert addressable ads in the actual live linear ad mode in the future.”
C3 and C7 ratings shine a light on ads that viewers have actually watched.
“Addressable TV is growing, but it’s mostly been limited to those two minutes per hour,” Brown adds. “We think that the big domino that’s going to eventually fall is that now we’re unlocking those 14 minutes per hour, now the opportunity for growth is much wider.
“So, we’re giving networks and agencies the opportunity to have much more scale if they so choose, while still having the accuracy of the underlying linear currency.”
Join the dots
EMarketer estimates that addressable TV advertising spend will reach $3.6 billion by 2022–up 75% from August 2020.
Connected TV and some addressable platforms boast digital-style targeting, frequency-capping and other features – but many in agencies would like to think of it more as TV than digital. And that means making it buyable like TV.
A key challenge has been translating the two worlds of TV and digital in buying currencies. Nielsen’s announcement aims to do just that.
According to the company: “Nielsen will calibrate tune-in and exposure
data from MVPDs and Smart TV OEMs against its gold-standard panel to correct for bias and deliver robust persons-level data for more granular and stable measurement.”
Best of both
Nielsen says: “Measurement of addressable TV will supplement its growing CTV offerings, providing comparable campaign measurement metrics.”
Brown adds there is still a critical role for traditional TV measurement panels in the new world.
“We use the panel to correct for data anomalies that we see in smart TV data and set-top box data,” he says.
“That data is not perfect in isolation. It’s great for scale. The panel is still going to be used in a big, big way, and it’s why we continue to invest in it going forward.”
