TV Currency & Measurement

Although the terms TV ad measurement and TV currency are often used interchangeably, they’re not quite the same thing. TV ad measurement is both a tool for measuring advertising success and a metric used to determine the effectiveness of TV advertisements. The term “TV measurement” is broad, as it encompasses many TV advertising metrics, including audience size, unique visitors, CPM and reach. To make it easier to distinguish TV measurement as a tool from TV measurement as a metric, think of a company such as iSpot.tv or Nielsen as the tool used to measure valuable advertising metrics.

TV currency is a desired value, agreed upon by advertising buyers and sellers, based on a single metric. This agreed-upon metric is identified through TV measurement efforts and is a function of specific outcomes.

This all may sound a bit dense, so let’s work with some examples. Consider a campaign which, by its terms, must reach 25 million men aged 25-54 or else the network owes media make-goods to the brand’s agency. Because reach is the metric being transacted on here, this is an example of currency. Now, let’s provide additional context here and say that 9% of the 25M ad impressions delivered to men aged 25-54 led to a web conversion event within 30 days of exposure. Here, we’d be talking about measurement, since the performance metric being discussed is associated with the one being transacted one (again, reach).

Now that you know the definitions of TV ad measurement and TV currency, it’s easy to see why so many people confuse the two terms. Although they’re not the same thing, they interact constantly. It’s helpful to think of TV currency as a component of TV ad measurement methodologies — doing so distinguishes the broad nature of measurement from the narrowly defined concept of currency.

You may be most familiar with TV currency options, but in most cases, it’s more appropriate to use the term media currency instead. This broader term includes radio, websites, social media messages and other forms of media, reinforcing the idea that all advertising exchanges are based on some type of value associated with measurement.

For decades, Nielsen was the only game in town when it came to TV advertising measurement. Using a sample of individuals meant to represent the American population, Nielsen produces TV ratings based on audience size and composition. Media companies and advertisers use these ratings to negotiate ad rates and other contract terms. Nielsen’s sampling method worked fine when viewers had access to a limited number of channels, but advertisers and major networks have become increasingly dissatisfied with Nielsen’s approach to TV advertising measurement.

One reason industry insiders are so dissatisfied is because it recently came to light that Nielsen has been undercounting viewers in some coveted audience demographics. For example, representatives of the Media Rating Council believe that Nielsen undercounted television viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 by anywhere from 1% to 5% in February 2021. Later that year, the MRC suspended Nielsen’s accreditation, leaving media executives and advertisers looking for innovative TV measurement alternatives to help with measuring advertising effectiveness.

Trouble at Nielsen isn’t the only reason industry professionals are dissatisfied with the current state of ad measurement. Advertisers want to trade on currencies based in valuable business outcomes — think conversion rates and lift. Counting the people who watched a given program just doesn’t give them enough information.

Moreover, it’s rare to find a household that has just one TV and no other devices. Cross-platform streaming services have been a game-changer for media companies, but it’s also forcing advertisers and other industry professionals to take a hard look at how they measure advertising effectiveness and determine the value of specific metrics. Unfortunately, cross-platform streaming viewership is difficult to measure, especially when TV networks don’t know who they can trust for measurement.

As a result, measurement providers and media agencies are now taking a multi-currency approach. This makes it possible for marketers to customize their efforts according to the unique wants and needs of their clients. The benefit for advertisers is that they no longer need to pay for multiple measurement agencies or services.

A single currency has dominated the TV ecosystem since the median price of a home was around $7,000 dollars. Now, 70 years later, iSpot is working with major TV providers and laying the groundwork for revolutionary TV Upfronts and a new TV landscape where multiple currencies are available for networks, brands, and agencies to transact upon.

The shift to multiple TV currencies is entirely dependent on more innovative measurement.  Beyond leveraging big data to replace legacy TV measurement methods, there are five key areas of measurement innovation required to create the multi-currency system that iSpot is hyper-focused on.

5 Areas of TV Measurement Innovation

1. Cross-screen: Unifying measurement and attribution across all forms of TV viewing (linear, streaming, OTT, OOH)
2. Speed: Delivering real-time insights that fuel optimizations vs. lagging ratings and post-campaign reports
3. Impact: Baking outcome-based measurement into currency in a way that is consistent enough to be transacted upon at scale
4. Ad-first: Measuring ads independently from programs to unlock deduplicated cross-screen reach and provide reliable, trustworthy data
5. Attention: Tracking second-by-second attention and completion rates for TV ads to align with measurement on the digital side

At iSpot, we believe fast, accurate and actionable measurement is essential for new currency and future-proof TV advertising. It’s the foundation from which networks innovate, keep pace with consumer behavior and prove content value while advertisers maximize cross-screen TV ROAS.

This page features regularly updated insights, resources and news articles on TV currency and measurement that will help you navigate a pivotal year of TV advertising transformation. iSpot.tv regularly highlights its partnerships with major media networks, provides insight into current trends and gives advertisers and other industry professionals actionable tips they can put into practice right away. The result of these non-Nielsen measurements is more effective ad campaigns and better decision-making capabilities at all levels.

NBCU selected iSpot out of more than 120 companies to be the company’s first alternative measurement provider, leading into the 2022 Upfront season. iSpot received top marks across all three of the “Value Variables” NBCU analyzed to determine the readiness of a measurement partner to bring forward cross-platform TV measurement:

1. Completeness of solution 
2. Ability to Deliver 
3. Cross-platform currency readiness

The six-month-long industry evaluation was a massive due diligence endeavor and a giant leap toward better TV currency and future-proof measurement.

More About the iSpot-NBCU Relationship

Always on the lookout for new network solutions to today’s measurement challenges, NBCU selected iSpot based on expertise in cross-platform measurement. iSpot has higher annual revenue than any other measurement company, aside from Comscore and Nielsen, and achieved 60% growth in 2021. Approximately half of all advertisers spend more than $100 million annually on U.S. TV advertising and trust iSpot’s analytics and measurement solutions. As a result, 80% of iSpot revenue comes from television advertisers, and the other 20% comes from media companies and TV networks.

For partners looking for TV currency alternatives or better ways to measure TV advertising effectiveness, iSpot offers the following:

• Conversion analytics for both online and offline purchase data
• Media measurement, including impressions, airings and estimated spending
• Assessment of the emotional impact of a brand’s creative assets through pre-market ad testing and in-market benchmarking
• Unified cross-platform measurement, including measurements for digital and linear campaigns
• Ability to integrate iSpot data with other third-party service providers to give advertisers a more complete picture of ad effectiveness

As the future of TV currency and measurement, iSpot offers a premium video measurement solution known as Unified Measurement, which gives advertisers access to these key features and benefits:

• Unified reporting that’s ready to go much faster than the reporting options offered by other service providers; reduced lag time helps our partners make better decisions
• An ad tracking pixel, that’s already approved for more than 300 digital publishers, which provides valuable, in-depth user data via the user’s IPv4 address
• Instant capture of impressions when they land on CTV and linear screens
• Demographic integration into the Unified Measurement platform, giving partners access to additional insights via data at the individual level and making it easier to assess advertising effectiveness
• Tools for tracking cross-screen TV ads

iSpot also has multiple identity partners, including Adobe, TransUnion, Experian, Epsilon and Neustar, giving advertisers access to highly accurate first-party and third-party data. Shifting focus from traditional TV ratings to cross-platform measurement makes it easier for iSpot partners to identify winning strategies and manage their TV ad budgets effectively.

BLOG: NBCU Commits to iSpot as Currency

Read more about NBCU’s certification of iSpot as the first measurement company for use as currency in the purchasing of national advertising campaigns.

BLOG: How New TV Network Collaboration Can Benefit Advertisers

Discover how the collaboration of new TV networks and the formation of Joint Industry Council (JIC) can benefit advertisers like you.

REPORT: 2022 Winter Olympics

Get a look under the hood at the modern measurement that fueled NBCU and iSpot’s alternative currency pilot during the 2022 Winter Games.

NEWS: iSpot Leads $16 Million Investment in TVision Insights

Learn how iSpot’s investment in TVision Insights will help advertisers measure the effectiveness of their ads across all devices and platforms, including streaming services, by providing data on viewer engagement and attention.

CURRENCY UPDATE: CTV Verification Initiative

Read more on iSpot’s CTV verification initiative to provide a reliable way for advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their ads on connected TV platforms. 

VIDEO: Wayfair TV Disrupt; Alternative Currency in Action

Hear directly from the Head of TV Marketing how Wayfair is refining their strategy based on key takeaways from NBCU’s test-and-learn pilot.

VIDEO: TV Currency of Today and Tomorrow from a Network Perspective

Get the network perspective on today’s burgeoning multi-currency TV marketplace in this thought-provoking panel moderated by Tracey Scheppach, CEO of Matter More Media. Learn how WarnerMedia and Paramount are approaching the vetting of alternative currencies.

• MarketingDive: What the Super Bowl and Olympics taught NBCUniversal about the new era of measurement
• Forbes: Media Audience Measurement Committee Includes Premium Video Providers Only
• Variety: iSpot Acquires Tunity in Bid to Deliver New Measurement of Out of Home Audiences
• NextTV: The Front-Runner: How iSpot Became a Favorite To Claim Nielsen’s Measurement Crown
• MediaPost: Simulmedia Adds Measurement Partners with Data Guarantees for its TV+ Buying Platform
• The Wall Street Journal: NBCUniversal Names iSpot.tv as Partner in New Approach to Measurement
• NextTV: NBCU Puts iSpot in Lead as It Evaluates Measurement Companies
• AdAge: Nielsen may ditch overnight ratings with new measurement service
• Adweek: NBCU Details Winter Olympics Ad Measurement Test With iSpot.tv to Fix ‘Broken’ System
• Deadline: ​​NBC Releases Initial Beijing Olympics Viewership Data; Most-Streamed Winter Olympics Day Ever
• AdExchanger: ​​How Measuring the Summer Olympics Won iSpot the NBCU Alternate Currency Test
• Broadcasting + Cable: NBCU Touts New Metrics for Ads During Olympic Games
• Adweek: WarnerMedia Sets Comscore, iSpot.tv and VideoAmp for Its Measurement Alternative