Integration of viewership data from DIRECTV and DISH Set Top Boxes, VIZIO Smart TVs marks a critical step towards holistic cross media measurement

Nielsen announced that it is adding addressable measurement to its National TV currency. Through strategic data integrations, Nielsen will add ~55 million devices across smart TVs and set top boxes to help scale addressable TV. Nielsen’s addressable measurement will include AT&T’s DIRECTV, DISH, Nielsen Advanced Video Advertising and addressable campaigns on VIZIO that utilize the open addressable standard developed by Project OAR. Nielsen plans to begin sharing preview data in the first half of 2021.

Industry trends support the growing demand for addressable measurement at scale across publishers and advertisers as media buyers look to engage with viewers in live, linear, on-demand and streaming environments. For example, according to the latest Nielsen Total Audience Report, 77% of U.S. homes have at least one enabled connected device and streaming accounts for 25% of TV usage in those homes. eMarketer estimates that addressable TV advertising spend will reach $3.6 billion by 2022–up 75% from August 2020.

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With the widespread adoption of connected TVs and advertising technology in place, the insertion of addressable ads in linear broadcast feeds continues to gain momentum. This allows advertisers to target specific audiences in live television. The addition of addressable to National TV measurement will help unlock new value and flexibility for publishers and advertisers to insert addressable ads in any commercial minute they choose. Through Nielsen’s measurement of both targeted and linear audiences, advertisers can better monetize advertising impressions without risking measurement of linear audiences.

“As TV continues to become more digital in nature, there is greater demand for comprehensive independent measurement of reach and frequency that’s scaled across linear and advanced TV,” said Scott Brown, GM of Audience Measurement at Nielsen. “Addressable TV advertising can only scale if media buyers and sellers can monetize those impressions. By marrying big data with Nielsen’s high-quality panels, we can ensure all metrics are representative, accurate and trusted. This is a critical first step to help scale addressability and lay the foundation for a holistic cross media measurement system.”

Combined, Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising footprint and the integration of set top box data insights from DIRECTV and DISH will expand the National TV panel to millions of U.S. homes offering greater demographic representation, higher quality and more actionable insights for better decision making. Nielsen will calibrate tune-in and exposure data from MVPDs and Smart TV OEMs against its gold-standard panel to correct for bias and deliver robust persons-level data for more granular and stable measurement. With reconciled metrics from Nielsen, the industry can now transact on and better monetize all advertising impressions and further drive adoption of addressable advertising.

DIRECTV, a leading linear addressable provider, is building upon its relationship with Nielsen in support of the TV industry by delivering data and insights that will help strengthen and advance the TV ecosystem. Leveraging DIRECTV’s existing addressable footprint and expertise in local, Nielsen will integrate advertising insights from millions of set-top box homes, allowing for campaign level reporting of addressable ad impressions and reconciliation of linear audiences in addressable commercial breaks.

“This expansion of our relationship could not come at a more important time for the industry,” said Rick Welday, executive vice president and general manager, AT&T Broadband and Video. “The combination of our expertise and leadership in addressable advertising with Nielsen’s decades of experience as the backbone of TV measurement will unlock the power of National Addressable TV. It is a win for national TV networks, a win for integrity in measurement, and most importantly, a win for advertisers.”

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“Nielsen has been a strategic partner of DISH Network for several years and we’re excited to expand this relationship to give advertisers and programmers the option to reliably measure addressable campaigns that leverage our data and tech stack,” said Kemal Bokhari, DISH Media General Manager of Data & Analytics. “We continue to advocate for innovation and collaboration across the industry, and this is a great step toward that vision.”

“The goal from the outset of OAR has been to help the industry rapidly evolve the technology and infrastructure to make linear advertising more responsive and relevant to the interests of the viewer while giving inventory owners and brands a better value proposition for TV on the whole,” said Adam Gaynor, VP of Network Partnerships and Head of Addressable at VIZIO. “We are encouraged that Nielsen is making the investment to measure addressable advertising at scale as it will accelerate industry adoption and ultimately provide a better experience to viewers at home.”

The change to National TV measurement will also enable a critical element of Nielsen’s Advanced TV strategy, which also includes measurement of Connected TV (CTV) apps and devices. Together, Nielsen aims to provide greater coverage, comparability and transparency in metrics across all platforms where ads are served to the TV screen. Measurement of addressable TV will supplement its growing CTV offerings, providing comparable campaign measurement metrics. This is a critical step in Nielsen’s roadmap to delivering holistic, cross-media metrics across all premium video.

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