For the first time, NBCUniversal will be transacting and guaranteeing on Comscore across 31 markets and 42 NBCU and Telemundo-owned stations, with plans to move to 18+ guarantees on all buys.
There’s more: In collaboration with InnovidXP, NBCU has rolled out new impact and incrementality metrics, giving local marketers real-time, outcome based KPIs across platforms.
It puts increased pressure on Nielsen, despite a recent Media Rating Council accreditation gain.
And, it could very well help Comscore with a much-needed turnaround for its stock, which began to tumble in February 2019 before seemingly bottoming out in August of that year, moving from the high-$21 range to the high $1s. Just before 2pm Eastern, an hour prior to the NBCUniversal announcement, Comscore, which trades on Nasdaq, was down another 10.2% to just $0.7703.
That weak share price is tied to Q1 2023 results released on Tuesday that missed the consensus estimates of analysts polled by Zacks.
How confident is NBCU, with a team that includes former longtime Nielsen executives Kelly Abcarian, in not using Nielsen? The company notes, “When it comes to accounting for actual audiences, Comscore measures 1 in every 2 to 5 homes in a Local DMA, whereas Nielsen’s current local model only measures 1 in every 1,600 to 2,000 homes in a Local DMA.”
That’s why NBCU believes the InnovidXP and Comscore partnerships support local marketers “and help them confidently make real time data-driven and privacy-minded insights,” as well as giving them the power to inform in-flight campaign efficiency, effectiveness and frequency, media and creative performance, and return on investments.
NBCU also says the agreements present to marketers the opportunity to measure converged TV campaigns for local advertisers across retail, insurance, education, telecom, medical and other categories, demonstrate the value of linear and streaming platforms’ need for holistic metrics across the local markets; and offer “a unified, industry-leading measurement solution.”
In a blog, Chief Revenue Officer and President of Commercial Operations for NBC Owned Stations Frank Comerford shared the reasons behind the two expanded agreements.
“Precise measurement and accurate counting are the foundation of a healthy and high-functioning TV advertising ecosystem,” he wrote. “When marketers have the right data, they can make the right decisions. But today, consumer behavior is far too complex to be captured with a single number or simple insight. Viewers consume content across multiple platforms, screens, and devices. And to measure these multi-faceted viewing habits, advertisers need multiple types of measurement insights. Historically, this has been difficult for local television buyers. They use advanced audience targeting tools on digital, but when it comes to accurately measuring and targeting audiences on linear, they lacked sophisticated tools and scaled currency data to better target their consumers in the local market at scale. That is, until now … With these partnerships, NBCUniversal can further support local marketers everywhere.”
Jon Carpenter, the CEO at Comscore, also chimed in.
“Comscore and NBCU are longstanding partners and we are honored to expand our partnership to support their move toward a more precise and reliable local measurement guarantees for all buys,” Carpenter said. “This announcement further expands and enhances Comscore as a leader in Local Television measurement. Our near census level data and fast 48 hour delivery, coupled with our advanced audience tools are helping clients like NBCU and their advertising partners maximize the opportunity to engage with audiences across local markets.”
