The UK’s cross-media measurement initiative, Origin, has announced a Proof of Concept to test the use of viewing data from Smart TVs as the basis for measuring BVOD, other connected TV, and linear TV audiences. The trial uses ACR data from Samba TV.
Backed by ISBA, Origin is the UK implementation of a global WFA (World Federation of Advertisers) initiative to drive cross-media measurement – something advertisers have been calling for to make sense of increased media fragmentation when planning and optimising their ad spend. ACR (automatic content recognition) data from Samba TV is gathered from partner Smart TV manufacturers and is considered an independent source of first-party audience data – covering viewing from any input source (e.g., streaming services, VOD, linear TV, etc.)
In the first stage of the Origin PoC, the Samba TV viewership data will be used to capture TV viewing across linear TV, BVOD, SVOD and other connected TV (CTV) services. The tests will be conducted in partnership with Comscore and Kantar Media and will identify data accuracy under lab test environments.
In stages two and three of the tests, Origin will work with Comscore and Kantar Media to identify Samba TV datasets within the Kantar Media-operated Origin panel to understand key audiences and behaviours that are particular to the Samba TV population (i.e., homes where the ACR data is sourced). Kantar Media will then create personification models that can be applied to ACR data from up to one million TV sets in the UK.
Test stages two and three are slated for the first half of 2024. The production flow of ACR data will be managed by Comscore, which will allow Origin to measure BVOD services and will provide a foundation for enhanced TV ad audience measurement across linear TV services and CTV, too. The expectation is that if this approach is successful, it can be adapted to other large-scale TV data sources in the UK.
Joe Lewis Research Lead at Origin declares: “TV measurement has, for the most part, been a panel-first approach, which has largely served us well. But, if we are ever to offer marketers the ability to really understand the true power of TV delivery, harnessing real granular deterministic and second-level data that we can tie to outcomes has to be on our roadmap.”
Phil Smith, Director General at ISBA, comments “These tests are a first step in answering our needs for measurement, especially with regards to television, which should be ubiquitous across all types of content on the screen. CTV is an ever-growing and important channel within the media plan, and having such powerful data sources at the heart of the Origin service will truly help us understand the contribution of that channel over others. We hope other TV data services will join in time, also.”
Adam Holt, SVP EMEA, Comscore, says: “We welcome Origin’s appetite to bring CTV data sources under the discipline of a media measurement framework in the UK and Samba’s willingness to go first. Cross media ad measurement demands an expansion in the granularity of the data inputs, but only in a manner that meets the industry’s needs for a transparent and validated methodology. That is what this pilot aims to deliver.”
Photo: Mahrous Houses on Unsplash
