NIELSEN’S RIVALS REACT TO JOINT INDUSTRY COMMITTEE PLAN

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The audience measurement companies looking to offer alternatives to Nielsen were mostly supportive of the move by major programmers to create a joint industry committee that will standardize and design multiple currencies for buying and selling advertising.

Nielsen has long dominated the measurement business and a new group could be a step towards putting providers on a more equal footing.

“We’re very supportive of the newly formed JIC as it represents clients we’re all actively working with to accelerate the adoption of new currencies,“ VideoAmp president Michael Parkes said. “The committee’s goal to increase collaboration is directly aligned with our own mission to increase the value of advertising. We look forward to what this means for the acceleration of new currency implementation at scale across the industry.“

Ashwin Navin, co-founder and CEO of Samba TV, also said the JIC would help the industry deal with more complicated viewer behaviors and new demands from media buyers and advertisers.

“It has long been clear that the U.S. model of a single measurement monopoly would not be able to keep pace with the rapid state of change in viewing behavior we are experiencing today and that it would ultimately fail to provide the kind of diversity and accuracy in measurement that media buyers are demanding,” Navin said.

“This news is a critical step towards a multi-currency world where the industry is empowered to adopt the data and technology it needs to develop advanced and transparent methodologies for measurement versus the legacy black-box tools we have been confined to for decades,“ he continued. “This is a great moment for publishers who will have full transparency into the value of their programming, for advertisers who will be empowered to go beyond legacy models from two generations ago that no longer make sense in today’s diverse audience and programming world, and for consumers who will now have far more advanced tools measuring their attention providing better insights to guide content investments.

“One of the biggest challenges of the legacy approach to measurement today is the one-size-fits-all approach, which may have made sense a half-century ago but frankly makes no sense in today’s incredibly diverse and fragmented media landscape,“ Navin said. “A program that attracts a highly diverse or hard-to-reach audience, for example, but ultimately captures a smaller overall share of attention of a mainstream program, could be canceled under the existing legacy model. By embracing new and innovative methods that go well beyond the simple age and gender metrics that have guided the industry for decades, and empower advertisers and programmers to truly understand who their audiences are and their real value, we will enable creators to continue to think outside the box in the development of incredibly diverse and entertaining content.”

As for Nielsen, it didn’t seem to object to the formation of the JIC, even though it appeared to be designed to reduce its dominance.

“We appreciate working with all the industry bodies vested in the best way to measure the changing audience and providing fidelity and trust between advertisers, agencies, publishers and platforms,“ Nielsen said. “We continue to believe it is critical to have measurement that is transparent, consistent, auditable and independent.”

iSpot.TV, another company leading the charge to provide an alternative to Nielsen, wanted more specifics on the JIC plan.

“While iSpot awaits details on how to participate in the certification process, as careful stewards of second-by-second ad measurement for hundreds of brands and partners to all TV networks, we can already confirm iSpot will invest in deepening its relationships with all parties involved,” the company said in a blog post.

“The coordination from programmers/publishers represents a good opportunity for the buy and sell side to focus on a common language and set of specifications to bring greater transparency and actionability to premium video,“ iSpot continued.

“We believe standards can enable brands to transact on TV and streaming using the metrics they know and trust, while reducing the amount of guesswork and layers of translation that can slow down all sides of the equation.

“With all the fragmentation brought on by streaming and an explosion of consumer choice, brands need a unified view of TV advertising and an ability to invest in a way that suits their goals. That means the ability to measure streaming and traditional TV together — and the ability to toggle between advanced audiences and broad demographics across both linear and streaming. Networks agreeing to coordinate around premium video standards provides a pathway for optimized spending for brands and cuts down on wasted time, money and opportunities during critical campaign cycles,“ iSpot said.

“As we continue our work as the new currency built for brands, we know the transformation to new systems is a process,“ iSpot said. “Hopefully, through a coordinated approach, networks just made your job as a marketer a bit easier.”

Comscore seemed to be more enthusiastic about the JIC announcement.

“Comscore congratulates OpenAP, the VAB and its network programmer partners on this initiative. Comscore has long supported our industry partners in their quest for new television and cross-platform currency, and this initiative will definitely foster a future with greater measurement competition, inclusivity and innovation,“ Comscore said. “We look forward to our continued leadership in cross-platform measurement and supporting all of our client’s business intelligence needs.”

courtesyofnexttv.com

PROGRAMMERS BAND TOGETHER IN JOINT INDUSTRY COMMITTEE TO BATTLE NIELSEN DOMINANCE

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New JIC Will Enable Multiple Currencies by Executing a Measurement Certification and Creating Unified Streaming Viewership Dataset through OpenAP

NEW YORKJan. 9, 2023, OpenAP along with national programmers Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision, and Warner Bros. Discovery and the VAB today announced the formation of a new Joint Industry Committee (JIC) to enable multiple currencies with the primary focus of creating a measurement certification process to establish the suitability of emerging cross-platform measurement solutions in advance of the 2024 upfront.

The JIC has already begun to utilize the collective efforts and progress being made across its members to develop measurement certification standards, which will be formalized and officially announced on March 1st. On April 25, 2023, the JIC will host an event to share a first look at progress being made toward accelerating the multi-currency future and upfront readiness of measurement partners.

In the coming months, the JIC intends to expand membership to other qualified premium video programmers. The JIC will also elicit active participation from advertising agencies and qualified trade bodies to advance the multi-currency future in this collaborative forum.

Starting in January 2023 with these launch partners, the JIC will fund key data initiatives to accelerate measurement innovation. The newly-launched JIC will:

  1. Establish and maintain a measurement certification process in partnership with the VAB that will be housed inside of the JIC for third-party measurement vendors conducting cross-platform premium video currency services that will be operational by Broadcast Year 2024.
  2. Create a programmer data set to enable third-party measurement vendors by harmonizing streaming viewership data brought together by OpenAP infrastructure.
  3. Engage a third-party audit firm to verify the accuracy of the streaming viewership dataset in order to maintain measurement independence and neutrality.
  4. Collaborate with the VAB and ANA to accelerate progress made to measurement calibration by both parties, as well as with other key Industry Trade Bodies including the 4A’s, IAB, ARF and more.

“The sustainability of the premium video advertising model depends on an ecosystem for measurement that is transparent, independent, inclusive, and accurately reflects the way all people consume premium video content today – across multiple screens, connections, and devices. By coming together to establish this JIC, we can collaborate and accelerate the efforts to implement a new multi-currency future that fosters more competition, inclusivity and innovation and will ultimately better serve advertisers, agencies and consumers,” said Jeff Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal; Bob Bakish, CEO of Paramount; Wade Davis, CEO of TelevisaUnivision; and David Zaslav, President and CEO, Warner Bros. Discovery in a joint statement.

 

Source: prnewswire.com

BIG DATA ANALYSIS OR LEGACY RADIO RESEARCH?

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In this era of Big Data and user profiles from mobile & smart devices, is there really still a place for traditional ways of radio research?

Stephen Ryan (Photo) sees audience research as helpful instruments for creative programming.

Today’s research for radio stations is based on a legacy of tried and tested methods. In a time of Silicon Valley-driven technology evolution, where everyone with a connected device is monitored and analyzed in the tiniest of detail, is there really still a place for these traditional methodologies?

  “It’s not simply about size; it’s more about complexity”

Most radio research data are less complex than Big Data from online giants!

Much is made these days on the use of Big Data and companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google, using complex data and predictive analytics to profile users and personalize experiences. Recent market valuations of these companies illustrate the payback for the investment in developing their sophisticated algorithms. Closer to our industry, music streaming services like Spotify, Deezer and Pandora spend vast amounts of time, money and resources on using Big Data to fine tune the listener experience and strive for ultimate personalization.

This all begs the question: where does Big Data fit with radio, and is it relevant? More importantly, if these data are so valuable, is it time to say goodbye to some of our traditional research analysis methodologies, and focus on Big Data processing instead? I will argue that while programmers should use every available resource to identify listeners’ desires and needs, including Big Data analysis from the likes of Twitter, we should still use legacy research methods to quantify and understand exactly what our listeners are doing – and more importantly, why they are doing it. Our emphasis is on music research, but the same applies to other forms of established radio research.

There is an important distinction to make. The availability of detailed data sets (such as through Portable People Meter analysis) is not the same as Big Data analysis in its truest sense. Big Data depends on the ability to analyze complex interactional and transactional behavior in an attempt to discover patterns and trends. It’s not simply about size; it’s more about complexity. The vast amount of these data is unstructured. Their analysis requires advanced computational power and methods that traditional data analysis simply cannot cope with. Legacy data analysis relies on a structured approach. Research methods that we have become so dependent on tend to be based on relational database models. Big Data analysis takes wildly unstructured and complex data, and attempts to make it structured and understandable through patterns and trends; taking random individual behavior, and trying to identify commonalities.

PPM data and music playlists don’t show us the reason why people like or dislike a certain song!

When we talk about monitoring Shazam or Spotify trends, we are of course looking at third-party generated analysis. Should radio develop its own Big Data sets? Such data and analytics are both resource and time intensive. It may be an opportunity for large radio groups with sufficient financial resources, but it’s likely to be well beyond the bounds of smaller groups and single stations. Also, while our listeners are complex as individuals, how they consume our service is simple. In pure transactional terms, the interaction is far from complex, and it is complexity where Big Data analytics come to the fore.

Even if resources do allow, how much information do you really need and what exactly are you going to do with it later? Research should help to generate actionable results, eliciting views and opinions that either support parts of a strategy or flag issues that need attention. In a Big Data world, we might be able to know not only that person X does most of his radio listening in a car, but also that the car is a blue Volvo, that its average speed is 50 miles/hour, and that the average occupancy of the vehicle is 2. Great, but do you have the time and resources to analyze the value of all this, and if yes, exactly what is your benefit? There is a large number of innovative web- and app-based techniques for identifying listener behavior. However, for the most part, these techniques illustrate what happens, but not necessarily why.

As an example, there are a number of analytical tools available that can match Portable People Meter data to the reconciled schedule play-out logs. Cross-referencing allows us to track the audience’s behavior as each song or segment plays across the day. By identifying people’s behavior each time say a certain song plays, we could see a particular trend where when that song is played, the audience dips. However, in a similar way to radio ratings, it tells us what potentially happens when the song plays, but it doesn’t tell us why. In order to spot a consistent trend, a song needs to be sufficiently exposed by having a reasonable rotation. If the song turns out to be turkey, hasn’t the damage already been done?

        “The nuances that an experienced programmer can spot are simply not there”

Listener-driven music voting apps often offer just a Like and Dislike button to vote on songs!

While the US have pushed through the adoption of the Portable People Meter, there are more countries still reliant on diary and yesterday recall methods. This includes the UK, where RAJAR has retained diary methodology, while they investigate some concerns on methodology and cost. However, stations in non-PPM territories can still get minute-by-minute data using logs from their streaming output and/or the use of a station app for listening. Again, cross-referencing the logs with the reconciled schedule allows us to spot trends. But the issue remains the same: cross-referencing tells us what happens, not why.

Music research, such as callout, allows you to follow the life cycle of a song. If there is an issue, perhaps it’s unfamiliarity or (in the latter part of the cycle) burn. On numerous occasions, I’ve seen a new song with a high unfamiliarity – which may have been prematurely tested – in combination with a negative score. An experienced program director can see the nuances. If a new song is allowed to be further exposed, that negativity often dilutes as it becomes more familiar. If a decision was based on what listeners did when the song was initially played, a lot of songs with potential could be ripped from the playlist!

We’ve come a long way from listener requests and dedication letters being the only feedback channels. Now we have sophisticated interaction systems to use through websites and apps. Listeners can preview songs, vote on songs, and potentially influence the upcoming playlist at a click of a button. However, this voting is usually confined to an absolute choice of ‘like’ or ‘dislike’. Once again, the nuances that an experienced programmer can spot with music research are simply not there.

“Tried and tested radio research methods still remain relevant”

 

Stephen Ryan argues that AMTs and callouts are still important radio research instruments!

Listener behavior tracking through analysis of Portable People Meter and Internet radio streaming data (or the interactive voting results through the station’s website or app) are valuable tools for any PD. However, in a similar way that we should use focus groups, the results should only be used as a potential flag for further research, rather than an end in themselves. Further investigation could be done through callout research or auditorium music testing.

While mobile and smart devices continue to increase in sophistication and speed, there’s a growing array of tools for the modern radio programmer to understand more about their audience. To truly quantify and qualify the listeners’ desires, tried and tested radio research methods still remain relevant. We just need to ensure that the ability to capture and gather our sample data continues to evolve with (and remains compatible with) the use of mobile and smart device technology.

NIELSEN PLANS TO ROLL OUT 3,000 WEARABLE PORTABLE PEOPLE METER

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Nielsen said about 3,000 of its nearly 60,000 portable people meter panelists will be getting new Portable People Meter Wearables, starting in September.

The new wearable technology is part of Nielsen’s effort to modernize its panels, improve the panelist experience and increase participation among more challenging demographics.

The data from the PPM Wearable will be used to measure national and local TV and audio and measure out-of-home tune-in.

Nielsen said the wearable PPM metering will be a key part of Nielsen One, the company’s upcoming measurement system designed to deliver a single, deduplicated metric for total media consumption across TV, digital and audio.

 

Nielsen has been under fire for the way it managed its panels, which resulted in undercounting viewing during the pandemic. Nielsen has said it is again managing those panel homes in person and is restoring the number of homes in the panels to pre-pandemic levels.

The wearable people meter is smaller and can be worn as a wristband, using clips or as pendants.

“By modernizing our panels with the PPM Wearable, we are not only improving the overall panelist experience and increasing engagement, but also ensuring our measurement is durable and can adapt to evolving technology changes,” said Mainak Mazumdar, Nielsen’s chief research and data officer. “This is another example of how Nielsen is continuing to innovate in our march towards Nielsen One in order to create a better media future for the entire industry.”

Nielsen said it plans to share top-line findings in Q2 2022 of the subset of panelists in this phase, with the full rollout of PPM Wearables in new panel households planned for the second half of 2022.

 

courtesyofnexttv.com