comScore said it will launch a new product in the fall—comScore Campaign Ratings—and it has lined up a group of networks, along with media buyer GroupM and streaming service Hulu for a beta test.
Networks including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBCUniversal, the CW, Turner, Viacom and Freeform will be kicking the tires of comScore Campaign Ratings, which aims to measure unduplicated viewing across TV, over-the-top, desktop video and mobile video.
Being able to calculate unduplicated reach has proven to be one of the more difficult assignments for a measurement business looking to cover the new video world.
“The market is ripe for true cross-platform measurement that provides critical insight into unduplicated audience reach and co-viewing behavior,” said Radha Subramanyam, chief research and analytics officer, CBS. “We’re passionate about this initiative and look forward to partnering with comScore’s new leadership on a solution with the potential to move our entire industry forward.”
comScore claims its new solution will include an unduplicated view of total audiences across linear TV and digital platforms, person-level reach and co-viewing insights, and reliable audience demographics. comScore will incorporate feedback from beta partners to iterate on and optimize future releases of the product.
“CNN has a history of collaborating on new measurement solutions with comScore, notably as an Xmedia launch partner, in order to capture the full multi-platform scope of the CNN brand,” said Robin Garfield, senior VP of research and scheduling, CNN. “This beta is another important step towards that goal and will ultimately help the entire industry accelerate investments in content experiences across a growing number of platforms and environments.”
Buyers have also been looking for a single metric to buy across multiple screens.
“Supporting the development of a unified, third-party, audience metric covering all video platforms has been a priority for GroupM. A robust, comprehensive video currency is essential to maintaining a healthy video marketplace where agencies can productively trade clients’ budgets with media partners,” said Ed Gaffney, head of implementation research and marketplace analysis, GroupM. “We look forward to the shared learning we’ll achieve with our clients by participating in the pilot of this new audience metric.”
The TV business has been looking for better ways to present its advertising in an era when digital rivals claim to have more precise metric of who is seeing ads and how they’re reacting to them.
“This is a critical effort, not for the future of television, but for its present,” said Bryson Gordon, executive VP of advanced advertising at Viacom. “Closing the cross-platform measurement gap, that once intractable market challenge, with innovation across the industry like the comScore Campaign Ratings pilot and OpenAP’s platform for advanced advertising, will help to propel the industry’s transformation towards new currencies, products and consumer experiences.”
comScore says this program is the first step in a broader company initiative to develop comprehensive and unduplicated measurement across all platforms and content types. As part of this initiative, comScore will continue to work with leading media buyers and sellers to create a true crossplatform solution made for the industry, by the industry.
comScore this year emerged from a three-year period where it its finances were being re-audited. The re-audit contributed to big losses, management turmoil and delays in launching new products.
