NBCUniversal, In Latest Poke At Nielsen, Reveals Plan To Start Using ISpot Ad Currency By May Upfront
22.03.2022 - 22:37
/ deadline.com
NBCUniversal is expanding its relationship with ad tracking firm iSpot, telling a room full of media buyers today that it will offer the company’s data as official currency starting at its May upfront.
“Now is the time to embrace change,” Kelly Abcarian, EVP of Measurement & Impact for NBCU, declared during the company’s “One22” event. “We’re heading to Radio City, and this year’s upfront, ready to activate against iSpot’s cross-platform audience … Our long-awaited, multi-currency future has finally arrived. We’ve got the technology. We’ve got the data. And we’re ready to help today.”
The plan to use the May 16 upfront as the start to offering more iSpot data builds on a “test-and-learn” initiative conducted by the companies during the Winter Olympics in February. In the test, iSpot turned around insights on ad effectiveness and viewer tendencies within a day, cutting conventional wait times. The goal of the team-up was to capture the full audience picture across streaming (NBCU’s Peacock carried all Beijing events this time around) and linear. Like its media peers, NBCU has long complained that Nielsen ratings, which are the main currency between ad buyers and sellers, cost them money by inaccurately tracking viewership. NBCU ad chief Linda Yaccarino, in her opening comments, used a football analogy, saying, “When we throw for a touchdown, we deserve all six points. And you deserve effective, comprehensive metrics that matter.”
The brighter spotlight on iSpot does not mean Nielsen will be kicked offstage, of course. NBCU and rivals will continue to rely on Nielsen as a central part of their measurement for the near term, given the need for third-party validation in order for ad buying and selling to proceed smoothly. Yet
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