Measurement Companies Are Making ‘Big Data’ Moves Ahead of NewFronts and Upfronts

Measurement companies are looking to measure up ahead of the upfront season, with Nielsen making “big data” announcements and the Joint Industry Committee (JIC) certifying Comscore and VideoAmp.

To explain exactly what’s going on in measurement, ADWEEK went to great measures of our own, breaking down what the latest measurement updates mean as the NewFronts and TV upfronts approach.

What’s happening?

On Wednesday, following its monthslong data evaluation period, the JIC granted Comscore and VideoAmp certification for transactability as national currencies. Meanwhile, iSpot will maintain its conditional certification, with a final decision expected in the next certification window in June 2024.

Additionally, Nielsen is also making announcements. It held a press conference on Tuesday to reveal that its combination of panel data and big data measurement will be available to use as its official currency in September.

The JIC? Nielsen? Why are there so many measurement announcements?

It’s the upfronts. With advertisers looking to make their annual upfront commitments, measurement companies are looking to advance the push toward alternative currencies or, in Nielsen’s case, maintain market share.

OK, so what’s the deal with the JIC certifying Comscore and VideoAmp?

The JIC—formed by OpenAP, along with a working committee of media agencies, premium video programmers, streaming platforms and trade bodies—wants to create a baseline standard for buyers and sellers to transact. After granting conditional certification to iSpot, Comscore and VideoAmp late last year, the organization has now completed its evaluation against a set of minimum requirements needed for cross-platform currencies to be transactional.

Comscore and VideoAmp were determined to be transactable across traditional metrics and cross-platform exact spot metrics for advanced audiences and households, with certification status granted on a two-year term. The news could help buyers look to Comscore and VideoAmp as currencies in upfront negotiations.

But wait, isn’t the Media Rating Council already a regulatory body for measurement? Why do we need JIC certification?

The JIC and the Media Rating Council recently clarified their differences in a joint statement.

“While the JIC is focused on evaluating the transactional readiness of national, cross-platform, measurement solutions, the MRC goes much further in conducting intensive audits of measurement methodology. The JIC’s goal is for measurement companies to hold both JIC certification as well as MRC accreditation,” the statement explained.

Though still intensive, JIC certification is a slightly less rigorous evaluation, designed to be a complement to the MRC and speed up the process of creating currency standards.

It’s an important distinction.

Ahead of the JIC and MRC’s joint statement, Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao told ADWEEK that confusion over the groups’ differences was one of the reasons Nielsen opted not to be a part of the JIC’s evaluation process.

Oh, right. Nielsen. What’s happening with them again?

Nielsen recently announced it would incorporate big data from Dish Network, DirecTV, Roku, Vizio and Comcast into its new measurement system this fall.

For the combined metric, Nielsen’s big data, which comes from 45 million households and 75 million devices, will be brought together with Nielsen’s panel data of 40,000 households.

According to the company, the combination of big data and panel data will provide stability, scale and show all audiences.

So Nielsen isn’t sunsetting panel data and C3 and C7, the current industry standard for media buys?

Nope. Nielsen is using its panel data as a “truth set,” according to the company. This lets it take out the errors and biases of big data, providing person-level measurement.

In addition, Nielsen will continue using C3 and C7 as the currency metrics. The changes are more about the ingredients that go into the numbers.

And for those wondering, the company will also continue producing panel-only and individual commercial metrics as measurement data streams.

OK, got it. Yay! That’s everything you need to know about measurement, right?

Oh, sweet summer child…

With upfronts on the way, the measurement updates are just getting started.

Look out for more news coming from the NewFronts, as Comscore, which recently gained national accreditation from the MRC, and Nielsen are slated to present during IAB’s Main Stage on May 1 from Convene at 225 Liberty Street.

See the full NewFronts schedule here.