Nielsen is getting a bit more serious about the measurement of “Advanced TV,” the hot new segment of the visual media world that’s getting marketers and advertisers all abuzz.
According to a pre-market announcement released Tuesday (11/10), Nielsen will now measure advanced TV audiences by integrating “big data” from one smart TV manufacturer and both DBS service providers.
As such, information from DirectTV and Dish set-top-boxes, along with VIZIO smart TVs, will be fed into its National TV currency.
Nielsen is also enabling addressable TV measurement, as the “advanced TV” plan allows for “the creation of a stronger linear currency.”
Nielsen says the integration adds some 55 million devices to its national TV measurement.
Nielsen’s addressable measurement will include DirecTV and Dish; Nielsen Advanced Video Advertising; and addressable campaigns on VIZIO that utilize the open addressable standard developed by Project OAR.
Nielsen plans to begin sharing preview data in the first half of 2021.
According to the latest Nielsen Total Audience Report, 77% of U.S. homes have at least one enabled connected device and streaming accounts for 25% of TV usage in those homes. Further, eMarketer estimates that addressable TV advertising spend will reach $3.6 billion by 2022 — a 75% rise from August 2020.
“The addition of addressable to National TV measurement will help unlock new value and flexibility for publishers and advertisers to insert addressable ads in any commercial minute they choose,” Nielsen says. “Through Nielsen’s measurement of both targeted and linear audiences, advertisers can better monetize advertising impressions without risking measurement of linear audiences.”
Scott Brown, GM of Audience Measurement at Nielsen, commented, “As TV continues to become more digital in nature, there is greater demand for comprehensive independent measurement of reach and frequency that’s scaled across linear and advanced TV. Addressable TV advertising can only scale if media buyers and sellers can monetize those impressions. By marrying big data with Nielsen’s high-quality panels, we can ensure all metrics are representative, accurate and trusted. This is a critical first step to help scale addressability and lay the foundation for a holistic cross-media measurement system.”
Combined, Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising footprint and the integration of set top box data insights from DirecTV and Dish will expand the National TV panel to millions of U.S. homes offering what the company believes will be greater demographic representation, and higher quality and more actionable insights for better decision making.
Further, Nielsen says it will calibrate tune-in and exposure data from MVPDs and Smart TV OEMs against its panel to correct for bias and deliver “robust persons-level data for more granular and stable measurement.”
The nation’s dominant audience measurement company added, “With reconciled metrics from Nielsen, the industry can now transact on and better monetize all advertising impressions and further drive adoption of addressable advertising.”
AT&T Broadband and Video EVP/GM Rick Welday added, “This expansion of our relationship could not come at a more important time for the industry. The combination of our expertise and leadership in addressable advertising with Nielsen’s decades of experience as the backbone of TV measurement will unlock the power of National Addressable TV. It is a win for national TV networks, a win for integrity in measurement, and most importantly, a win for advertisers.”
DISH Media General Manager of Data & Analytics Kemal Bokhari added, “Nielsen has been a strategic partner of DISH Network for several years and we’re excited to expand this relationship to give advertisers and programmers the option to reliably measure addressable campaigns that leverage our data and tech stack,” said “We continue to advocate for innovation and collaboration across the industry, and this is a great step toward that vision.”
The change to National TV measurement also enables a “critical element” of Nielsen’s Advanced TV strategy, which also includes measurement of Connected TV (CTV) apps and devices.
“Together, Nielsen aims to provide greater coverage, comparability and transparency in metrics across all platforms where ads are served to the TV screen,” the company said.
Measurement of addressable TV will supplement its growing CTV offerings, providing comparable campaign measurement metrics.
At the Opening Bell on the NYSE, Nielsen started Tuesday’s trading at $15.61.
