Warner Bros. Discovery is kicking off 2023 with an alternative approach to audience measurement.

Top line

On Tuesday, Warner Bros. Discovery and VideoAmp announced they had reached an agreement to measure cross-screen campaigns across the global media company’s sports, news, lifestyle and entertainment portfolio.

Between the lines

The deal comes following the completion of Warner Bros. Discovery’s test-and-learn for alternative measures of video ad performance. With the agreement, the media company will utilize VideoAmp’s full measurement suite and data capabilities to better represent audiences for advertisers transacting on linear, streaming video and digital and social media services through a unified cross-platform currency.

“The industry needs a better way to measure and transact on audiences–one that accounts for cross-platform, supports both traditional and advanced audiences and provides attribution metrics in a manner that enables media sellers and buyers to unlock this potential and excel in a competitive environment,” Ross McCray, CEO and founder, VideoAmp, said in a statement. “We are excited Warner Bros. Discovery is creating a more sophisticated marketplace, and we’re looking forward to unlocking value for them and the industry as a whole.”

Before its $43 billion merger with Discovery, Warner Media announced it was testing alternative currencies in January 2022. Through its assessment of measurement and currency solutions, the company said it identified the need for greater standardization, identity resolution, personification and transaction capability as industry priorities to move towards scaled adoption of multiple currencies by the 2023 upfront.

“Traditional media measurement has not kept pace with how consumers are engaging with streaming and linear content. As a result, these audiences have been undercounted, and current measures no longer accurately reflect their true advertising value,” Andrea Zapata, evp, head of ad sales research, measurement and insights, Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement. “We are gaining momentum as we act on our goals to offer best-in-class measurement capabilities and provide greater visibility into the return on ad spend across our award-winning IP.”

According to the companies, a Warner Bros. Discovery media delivery analysis leveraged VideoAmp’s data for October and showed high impact and efficiency across the marketplace.

The agreement is just the latest win for VideoAmp, which also teamed up with Disney for clean room integration in December.

Bottom line

The push for alternative currencies continues more than a year after the Media Rating Council stripped Nielsen’s accreditation for lowballing audiences nationally and locally early in the pandemic. In November 2022, the MRC voted to maintain the suspension of accreditation for Nielsen’s national ratings, according to a letter sent to clients viewed by Adweek.

However, the measurement giant’s woes have allowed other measurement alternatives to come into the spotlight. Besides VideoAmp, Comscore, iSpot and Samba TV have all partnered with publishers for test-and-learns.