U.S. Joint Industry Committee Reveals Currency Criteria for Premium Cross-Platform Video

The first U.S. Joint Industry Committee (JIC) to enable multiple currencies has made its first big announcement.

Top line

Today, the JIC, led by OpenAP, along with a working committee of media agencies, premium video programmers, streaming platforms and trade bodies, revealed its criteria for premium video cross-platform currencies.

Between the lines

The criteria list comes less than two months after the JIC officially formed in January, with the goal of creating a measurement certification process to establish the suitability of cross-platform measurement solutions ahead of the 2024 upfront.

According to the JIC, the minimum requirements for all cross-platform currencies to be transactional include big data; technology and infrastructure; interoperability; privacy; transparency; governance and transaction flexibility; cross-media transparency, media integrations and stewardship; and cross-platform measurement.

These requirements were communicated to measurement companies on March 1, keeping with the committee’s previously announced timeline. Comscore, iSpot, Nielsen, SambaTV, TVSquared, VideoAmp and 605 all formally invited to participate.

“From the beginning, we have been clear that buyers and sellers need to work together to build a more sustainable future for premium video advertising. We believe that if we’re going to transform the way video is measured, the buying community must have a seat at the table in defining new standards,” David Levy, CEO of OpenAP, said in a statement. “By reaching consensus on minimum requirements within this ambitious timeline, we are together demonstrating the significance and impact of industry-wide collaboration.”

In addition to OpenAP, the operating group includes executives across investment, research and advanced activation functions from media agencies Dentsu, GroupM, Horizon Media, IPG Mediabrands, Omnicom Media Group, Publicis Media and RPA; national programmers A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Fox, Hallmark Media, NBCUniversal, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision and Warner Bros Discovery; streaming platform Roku, as well as the VAB.

“Standardization across all measurement currencies is critical for our ability to scale a multicurrency future, and the infrastructure we create must work for both buyers and sellers. The announcement of the JIC’s initial set of requirements for cross-platform transactions is the first step toward creating a future for video advertising that reflects how people are consuming video today,” reads a joint statement from Celeste Castle, evp, head of research and measurement at Dentsu; Bharad Ramesh, executive director, research and investment analytics at GroupM; Lauren Chaplin, svp, director video investment at Horizon Media; Brian Hughes, evp, managing director, audience intelligence and strategy at Magna; the investment and intelligence arm of IPG Mediabrands; Kelly Metz, managing director, advanced TV activation at Omnicom Media Group; and Helen Katz, evp, research, at Publicis Media.

Bottom line

The state of currency has been up in the air since the Media Rating Council stripped Nielsen of its accreditation for national and local TV measurement in 2021. Nielsen later announced it would replace C3, TV’s standard metric for commercial measurement, by fall 2024. Thus, all currencies in the market, including Nielsen’s offering, Nielsen One, would be new.

In addition to announcing the certification requirements, the JIC has also set an ambitious timeline for its march toward multiple currencies, looking to host an event on April 25 to share a look at its multicurrency progress.

“They are ambitious,” Krishan Bhatia, president and chief business officer at NBCUniversal, previously told Adweek about the JIC’s self-appointed timelines. “And at the same time, I think we all feel like enough progress has been made and enough alignment already exists.”

Bhatia said ongoing publisher programs, including NBCU’s Currency Council, gave the JIC “a running start” for reaching its goals.