Media/entertainment data research firm comScore’s acquisition of Rentrak paved the way to expand its TV/video as well as online measurement services. comScore has expanded its mobile viewing metrics to YouTube’s partner channels – a strategic value since about 70 percent of YouTube views are seen on mobile platforms.
Similarly, Samba TV launched its TV Data Management Platform, which lets advertisers’ measure impact across linear, over-the-top and digital media. For nearly a decade, Samba TV has been developing software
for smart TV sets, set-top boxes and smartphone apps and received major funding from entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who saw its SyncApps technology at CES 2012.
Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar, two of the largest U.S. TV station ownership groups, foresee a way that TV stations can gather data without having “to rely on expensive third-party measurement services with small sample sizes and unverified results.” The broadcast giants launched the ATSC 3.0 Spectrum Consortium in March, and their agenda includes a measurement system that “will capture significant and meaningful information relating to consumers’ actual viewing and consumption behaviors.” Sinclair and Nexstar foresee that data from “across all Next Gen-enabled devices” will give advertisers greater efficiency through “elevated addressability, personalization and accountability.”
A closely watched new venture, OpenAP, is an advanced audience platform standard unveiled in March by Fox Networks Group, Turner Broadcasting and Viacom. This open platform will support industry-standard measurement sources and data and will match an advertiser’s target audiences to networks’ multimedia plans. The founders intend to put OpenAP into beta tests this summer. It’s expected these targeting systems will become more important to networks and advertisers as more linear video feeds use Internet Protocol distribution systems.
Nielsen’s latest Millennials on Millennials report quantified the extent of some intuitive media consumption trends among 18- to 34-year olds. It found traditional TV sets are still their favorite viewing platform (66 percent of weekly video time versus 23 percent on a connected device such as via digital streaming on a game console, eight percent on PC, two percent on smartphone) – a lot less time than the 89 percent that older viewers (35 years and up) watch TV.
But here’s where the data takes on more significance. Less than two percent of millennials change the channel during commercials, far less than 35-54 (5.5 percent) and 55 and older (eight percent) age brackets. Still, millennials have the lowest program engagement and ad memorability scores even though they actually like ads. The catch is millennials don’t remember commercials because they turn to social media or other distractions while ads run. As advertisers demand more specificity to gauge the fragmented media landscape, there will be many options for innovative data analytics and tools.
i3, the flagship magazine from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, focuses on innovation in technology, policy and business as well as the entrepreneurs, industry leaders and startups that grow the consumer technology industry. Subscriptions to i3 are available free to qualified participants in the consumer electronics industry.