The New Primetime Means “Always On” Measurement

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TV advertising is no longer about investing at a set time of day, on a certain platform or network, or within a specific show or genre just because of traditional ratings and perceived popularity. Instead, investing in TV, across screens, is now focused on reaching and engaging with the total TV audience — regardless of when, where or how they watch TV.

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That’s the direction an increasing number of advertisers are taking, according to a survey from TVSquared, as the industry pushes towards a set of agreed converged TV metrics.

In its survey, more than 40% of TV advertisers say they are measuring linear and streaming campaigns weekly — today — with about 10-15% doing so on a daily basis.

“A ‘set it and forget it’ TV buying strategy has already proven unsustainable in such a dynamic, cross-platform TV universe,” states TVSquared, a measurement and attribution platform for CTV. “The adoption of continuous, always-on measurement and optimization will give advertisers the greatest opportunity to reach the right audiences across all platforms, at scale.”

Moving forward, TVSquared urges advertisers to embrace experimentation in order to find the ideal “media mix” in terms of identifying ideal platforms and audiences.

“Through experimentation and, ultimately, achieving this balance, brands can target both broader and more precise, hyper-targeted segments to achieve desired goals.”

The survey suggests that reach and frequency are among the most important KPIs for CTV advertisers.

In parallel there can no longer be a single system of measurement or “currency” with which to trade ads across the new CTV ecosystem.

In 2022, TVSquared predicts that multiple currencies will become “the reality,” powered by cross-industry collaboration to find consistent ways to count and ascribe value for all forms of TV. “This will simultaneously empower the buy-side to better drive ROI with their ad buys and the sell-side to more accurately prove the value of their content.”

In support of this, the company points to more than 70% of advertisers in its survey stating their belief that all forms of TV should be sold on impressions. Meanwhile, 85% indicated that the traditional TV upfronts need to be more flexible and easier to transact across linear and streaming.

TV measurement is being transformed with initiatives from media conglomerates like NBCU and Warner Media and steps from the sell-side and industry trade groups. These seem to all want access to real-time, cross-platform insights. Indeed, 87% of TV advertisers consider standardized cross-platform TV measurement and attribution an important factor when deciding to invest in converged TV, according to the survey.

“While these changes are taking shape now, they will become table stakes in 2022,” TVSquared insists. “It’s simple; these always-on measurement and attribution capabilities are critical to providing advertisers with advanced consumer insights, which allow them to sell more products and, in turn, invest more in converged TV.”