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Tag: Nielsen

  • Streaming accounted for over one-third of US’s TV consumption in June: Nielsen

    Streaming accounted for over one-third of US’s TV consumption in June: Nielsen

    Mumbai: In June, streaming captured 33.7 per cent of total television consumption in the US, according to The Gauge, which is Nielsen’s monthly total TV and streaming snapshot. This is streaming’s largest share of TV usage to be measured by The Gauge since its inception in May 2021. Conversely, while viewership for broadcast and cable is traditionally lower during the summer months, June represented the smallest share yet for the formats, which totaled 22.4 per cent for broadcast and 35.1 per cent for cable.

    Total time spent watching TV in June increased slightly (+two per cent) from May, bolstered by 8 per cent uptick in streaming volume over the same interval. Time spent streaming jumped by 23.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis, allowing the digital format to add six  percentage points to its share of TV in 12 months.

    This considerable increase in streaming had a similar effect on streaming platforms, four of which saw record-high viewing shares in June: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and YouTube (including YouTubeTV). Viewers spent 16 per cent more time watching Netflix than the previous month, allowing Netflix to gain a full share point from May and capture 7.7 per cent of total TV viewing—the largest month-to-month growth for a streaming platform. Compared to June 2021, all reported streaming platforms in The Gauge have seen significant growth in viewing, led by Amazon Prime Video (+31.9 per cent), Disney+ (+22 per cent), and Netflix (+18.1 per cent).

    While cable viewing in June fell two per cent from the previous month, the category lost 1.4 share points in TV usage over the same period. Cable continues to show some of the largest year-over-year shifts of any viewing category, dropping five percentage points and -11.9 per cent in viewing compared to June 2021.

    Due to the conclusion of the traditional broadcast TV season, time spent watching broadcast was down 6.7 per cent in June compared to May, and the share of viewing declined 2.1 percentage points. While these declines are fairly typical for this time of year, broadcast viewing this month was down 3.9 per cent compared to June 2021, and a full share point lower.

  • OMD India onboards Charul Tomar as its new head of strategy

    OMD India onboards Charul Tomar as its new head of strategy

    Mumbai: The Indian division of global media agency network, OMD has appointed Charul Tomar as its new head of strategy. She will be spearheading impactful, strategic initiatives across the board, building upon existing strengths, while working with key stakeholders to build a strong and strategic foothold in the region, the network said in a statement. She will be reporting to OMD India CEO Anisha Iyer.

    With over 13 years of diverse experience having worked with leading market research and media agencies, like Kantar, Nielsen and Mindshare, Tomar brings with her robust cross-functional experience in market research, insights & strategy and media analytics.

    In her role at OMD, she will also be in charge of accelerating efforts around nurturing a culture where attention and empathy are treated as valuable currencies to take a more humanistic approach towards client and people relationships. Furthermore, advancing the mandate of the organisation, she will be instrumental in augmenting the Red Spine – OMD India’s nerve centre, ensuring that each component of the system remains interconnected in an efficient way. With a spotlight on furthering Omni’s potential and an emphasis on leveraging OMD Design – the robust and highly-adaptive end-to-end process by OMD, she is all set to further capitalize on emerging trends and make complex decisions faster.

    Speaking on the appointment, Iyer said, “We are stoked to have Charul on board with us. She is a fine strategic leader and frontrunner when it comes to having a pulse on the confluence of consumer, brand and insights. Her appointment comes at a time when OMD India is undergoing significant momentum and one that is fuelled by the most promising talent in the industry. I am certain that Charul’s valuable expertise, combined with her drive and commitment, will help us take our offerings to new heights. The future looks promising!”

    On being a part of the OMD team, Tomar said, “Sharp strategic management is always at the heart of every successful business. I am truly excited to be on board with OMD India, chiefly due to their commitment to futureproofing and their ability to adapt and innovate in an ever-changing marketplace. The agency exudes a strong vision and energy on the back of an exciting 2022 it has had so far, and I look forward to leveraging my experience to formulate game-changing strategies and deliver scalable business solutions, all while keeping empathy and attention at the core of what we do.”

  • Only 26% of global marketers are confident in their audience data: Nielsen study

    Only 26% of global marketers are confident in their audience data: Nielsen study

    Mumbai: The digital dominance in marketing dollars notwithstanding, with continued digital fragmentation, marketers report data accuracy, measurement, and ROI as paramount concerns. While 69 per cent of marketers believe first-party data is essential for their strategies and campaigns, 72 per cent of marketers believe they have access to quality data, and only 26 per cent of global marketers are fully confident in their audience data, according to the global survey conducted by Nielsen.

    Nielsen’s 2022 annual marketing report titled ‘Era of Alignment’ surveyed nearly 2,000 global marketers between December 2021 and January 2022 to reveal a digital dominance in how dollars are being spent and exposed marketers’ lack of confidence in the data behind those decisions. As per the report, brands’ top priorities for 2022 are increasing brand awareness, breaking down measurement siloes, developing personalised strategies, and becoming more purpose-driven.

    As marketers are prioritising a digital-first approach, the social media spend increased by 53 per cent across global marketers, significantly more than the aggregate increase of TV and radio spend. However, they have struggled over the past two years to keep up with consumers’ changing media habits. The report illustrates how marketers need confidence in their data to focus equally on brand building and customer acquisition, doing so through both upper-funnel and lower-funnel planning and execution.

    The ‘Era of Alignment’ report found marketers around the world are experiencing similar areas of success and challenges, as shown by:

    Brand awareness is marketers’ top objective: To reach this goal, brands need to leverage an array of channels to reach the widest audience. Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents stated that social media is the most effective paid channel with TikTok and Instagram dominating spend. Customer acquisition is their second objective, showing that marketers must focus efforts on the entire customer journey.

    Increased media fragmentation amplifies the need for holistic measurement: Marketers’ confidence in measuring the ROI of the full-funnel is only 54 per cent. Remove online and mobile video and confidence in measuring ROI across all other channels are under 50 per cent globally, and while nearly half of marketers plan to increase their spending on podcasts, their confidence in measuring the ROI of that investment is 44 per cent.

    It’s vital for marketers to use data to champion personalised marketing strategies: The increasing proliferation of channels produces an abundance of unique data sets. However, 36 per cent of marketers still claim that data access, identity resolution, and deriving actionable insights from data is either extremely or very difficult. The rise of connected TV (CTV) presents new challenges to traditional targeting solutions. CTV is a growing focus for global marketers, with 51 per cent planning to increase their over-the-top/CTV spending in the coming year. In 2021, Americans streamed almost 15 million years’ worth of content across subscription- and ad-supported platforms.

    Also Read: Connected TV: A growing market in India   

    By placing a greater emphasis on purpose-driven initiatives, marketers can better connect with consumers: Nielsen research shows over half of US consumers (52 per cent) purchase from brands that support causes they care about; similarly, more than 36 per cent expect the brands they buy to support social causes. While global marketers say their brands are emphasising purpose, Nielsen data shows that 55 per cent of consumers aren’t convinced that brands are fostering true progress.

    “The research reaffirms that marketers want to put money into channels to deliver immediate ROI, but this must be balanced with overall brand lift. As media engagement shifts, agility and data are critical to optimise the entire marketing funnel,” said Nielsen chief marketing and communication officer Jamie Moldafsky. “With the upcoming depreciation of third-party cookies, it’s understandable to see marketers prioritising personalisation and aligning their brand with causes their customers care about. Through our solutions – and this report – we’re continuing to help brands and marketers get actionable insights to make more informed, and quicker decisions.”

    This is the fifth annual marketing report produced by Nielsen. “The report is based on survey responses from marketers who manage marketing budgets $ one million or more; who work across a variety of industries (auto, financial services, FMCG, technology, health care, pharmaceuticals, travel, tourism, and retail); and whose focus pertains to media, technology, and measurement strategies,” according to data and market measurement firm.
     

  • Content discovery is overwhelming nearly half of American audiences: Nielsen report

    Content discovery is overwhelming nearly half of American audiences: Nielsen report

    Mumbai: A nearly 20 per cent increase in unique programme titles over the past three years has almost half of the American audiences (46 per cent) feeling overwhelmed by the growing number of services and platforms that makes it more difficult to find the content they’re looking for, revealed audience measurement firm Nielsen’s inaugural ‘State of Play’ report.

    According to the report, consumers now have over 817,000 unique programme titles as of February 2022 vs more than 646,000 as recently as December 2019. The increase in content also comes with an increase in consumption, as 18 per cent of Americans are now paying for four streaming services vs the seven per cent who did so in 2019.

    In February of this year, content from streaming platforms accounted for just under 29 per cent of consumers’ total time with TV, ahead of broadcast programming (26.4 per cent) for the fourth straight month, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge, its monthly total TV and streaming snapshot. In total, Americans watched nearly 15 million years’ worth of streaming video content last year.

    When asked about whether bundled streaming services might make it easier for consumers to find the content they are seeking, 64 per cent of respondents indicated they wish there was a bundled video streaming service that would allow them o choose as few or as many video streaming services that they wanted.

    “The inaugural State of Play really underscores the fact that we’ve entered the next phase of streaming, based on the trends we have been detailing about streaming over the past few years,” said Nielsen SVP product strategy Brian Fuhrer. “We’ve moved from infancy into adolescence and all the complexities that one would expect at that point. It’s not just that streaming is increasing year over year. Now consumers want access simplified and the explosion of services has renewed discussions around bundling and aggregation. Ultimately, these challenges signal an opportunity as the industry harnesses streaming for long-term business growth.”

    ‘State of Play’ highlights the increasing boom of video content in both linear and streaming in recent years. Overall, Americans increased their average weekly time streaming video by 18 per cent, with a year-over-year increase from 143.2 billion streamed minutes to 169.4 billion between February 2021 and February 2022.

    The report reveals two other key takeaways: streaming service consumption is expected to grow, with 93 per cent of Americans reporting they will increase their paid streaming services or make no changes to their existing plans over the next year, and over the last three years there was an 18 per cent increase in all available video content.

    However, due to a nearly 20 per cent increase in unique program titles over the past three years, nearly half of audiences (46 per cent) feel overwhelmed by the growing number of services and platforms that makes it more difficult to find the content they’re looking for.

    Amid the seemingly overwhelming choices provided by new streaming platforms, subscription video on demand (SVOD) now accounts for 53 per cent of minutes streamed. Of the four hours, 49 minutes per day that the average American spends watching content, 1:22 of that is through connected TV (CTV).

    In addition to providing streaming consumption trends and consumer sentiment, ‘State of Play’ details how the streaming landscape has broadened beyond traditional SVOD services. Ad-supported VOD, multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) and virtual MVPDs (vMVPDs) have grown to account for 35 per cent. The percentage of homes with YouTube TV—the vMVPD with the highest household penetration—has grown by over 160 per cent since 2020.

    The ‘State of Play’ report leverages Nielsen TV measurement and streaming data, insights from Gracenote a Nielsen company, and findings from an online custom survey of the US video streamers.

  • YouTube announces free TV shows and films for US viewers

    YouTube announces free TV shows and films for US viewers

    Mumbai: Google-owned YouTube has announced that popular television shows and films from major studios will be available in the US for free, with ads, using smart televisions, mobile devices or web browsers. The video platform has over 1,500 films from Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, FilmRise, and more.

    The American audience will now have access to nearly 4,000 episodes of TV shows like “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Andromeda,” “Heartland,” and many more. New titles in March include “Gone in Sixty Seconds,” “Runaway Bride” and “Legally Blonde.”

    US users can access these films and shows and up to 100 new titles each week on web browsers, mobile devices, and most connected TVs via the YouTube on TV app.

    “More people are choosing to experience YouTube on the big screen with friends and family. In fact, according to Nielsen, YouTube reached over 135 million people on connected TVs in the US in December 2021. YouTube is at the forefront of the consumer shift to CTV viewership as the top ad-supported streaming platform with the content people enjoy and the creators they love,” YouTube said in a blog post.

    To enhance the viewing experience, the video platform is also unveiling brand new streamlined navigation and immersive banner art. The rich visuals and new menus will help users more easily find their favourite TV shows, whether they choose to rent, purchase, or watch for free with ads. Many of these titles are also now available in high definition 1080p with 5.1 surround sound audio on supported devices.

  • Nielsen, Experian expand agreement to enhance identity demographics

    Nielsen, Experian expand agreement to enhance identity demographics

    Mumbai: Nielsen and Experian have announced an expanded strategic initiative to enhance identity data in the United States for digital measurement of the open web. Experian marketing data assets will enhance the Nielsen Identity System by providing persistent IDs for open web measurement, increasing coverage and interoperability by supporting audience measurement across screens and devices that are consistent and comparable.

    Forthcoming cookie deprecation is fundamentally changing the advertising ecosystem. Combined with the deterioration of other digital identifiers, there’s greater emphasis on people-first measurement approaches to accurately count and deduplicate audiences across platforms as well as report on a person’s characteristics, thus addressing advertising waste and fraud.

    Integrating Experian marketing data assets into the Nielsen ID System will further strengthen Nielsen’s ability to match person-level data to devices, increasing the scale and accuracy of demographic distribution for reported impressions for Nielsen’s Audience Measurement and Outcomes products.

    Advertisers and publishers can use Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) with more confidence knowing the solution leverages a variety of best-in-class data sources that are aimed towards appropriately assigning and deduplicating audience demographics across devices, content and ad exposure. This initiative builds on the two companies’ longstanding relationship where Nielsen is already leveraging demographic data from Experian in Connected TV DAR services.

    As part of the Nielsen ID System, the Nielsen ID Graph links billions of first and third party signals which are calibrated against, and validated by, Nielsen’s people-based panels and truth sets. This joint initiative will further position Nielsen to scale its ID Resolution System and deliver deduplicated audiences across linear and digital platforms as part of NielsenOne, its cross-media measurement solution.

    “This expanded agreement with Experian immediately enriches Nielsen’s Identity System in the US, and showcases our commitment to independent measurement and marketplace interoperability,” said Nielsen chief data and research officer Mainak Mazumdar. “This is an important milestone as we continue to evolve our technologies and methodologies as we move toward NielsenOne, underpinning a strong digital measurement capability which helps with the vision of a true cross-platform that measures across all screens.”

    “Experian’s goal is to enable privacy-forward identity in the marketing ecosystem, helping brands build smarter audience strategies and powering more robust cross-platform measurement,” said Experian Marketing Services SVP – strategy and partnerships Aimee Irwin. “We are excited to expand our longstanding strategic partnership with Nielsen, bringing addressability at scale through connectivity and interoperability across the ever evolving identity landscape.”

  • Nielsen Media Impact to include streaming data from connected TV

    Nielsen Media Impact to include streaming data from connected TV

    Mumbai: Nielsen will expand coverage offered by Nielsen Media Impact (NMI), a national media planning and optimisation solution, to include streaming data from connected television sets (CTV). This NMI enhancement, fuelled by Nielsen’s Streaming Platform Ratings data, will allow advertisers, agencies, and media owners to better understand the full cross-platform audience reach of TV, digital, radio, print, out-of-home, and now even more robust streaming channels in their media planning scenarios.

    The ability to identify the incremental reach of streaming apps in the media planning process unlocks true, cross-platform media planning so advertisers can capitalise and reach consumers regardless of device. With media consumption habits changing and a growing portion of viewing happening on streaming apps, it’s critical for marketers to plan across the platforms that consumers utilise the most in order to reach the right audiences and improve ROI.

    According to Nielsen’s latest The Gauge report, consumers are spending an average of 180 billion minutes per week streaming content. The addition of streaming data to NMI gives advertisers, agencies and media owners the most complete view of their plans’ footprints. This enhancement enables advertisers, agencies, and media owners to find cost efficiencies and determine optimal media mixes to reach advanced audiences and better achieve business goals.

    Now, advertisers and agencies can execute against more granular plans and optimisation models that showcase the full scope of investment scenarios across every media platform, enabling them to better reach their target audiences on the right platforms, at the right time, with the right message.

    “Nielsen is committed to helping the industry make data-informed decisions about their media plans that maximise efficiency and drive results,” Nielsen SVP planning products Jay Nielsen. “With streaming data from the TV glass now available directly in our media planning tool, clients can more easily reach advanced audiences and navigate the fast changing landscape with the confidence that they’re spending every dollar as effectively as possible.”

    Nielsen is capable of providing app-level streaming data in NMI, which is fuelled by Nielsen’s Streaming Platform Ratings data. Nielsen Streaming Platform Ratings provides a macro view of how consumers engage with various streaming platforms. Using people-powered panels and proprietary metering technology, it measures what content is streamed, the device used to stream and the streaming source application.

  • Nielsen, The Trade Desk announce strategic alliance for open internet

    Nielsen, The Trade Desk announce strategic alliance for open internet

    Mumbai: Nielsen and The Trade Desk on Thursday announced a strategic partnership to power identity resolution for open internet measurement in key international markets around the world. 

    The Trade Desk will help fuel Nielsen’s demographic data starting with France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Japan, Australia and Germany will launch on 1 April, with plans to launch in other Asian and European markets, in addition to Canada and Mexico, on a regular cadence following the initial releases in 2022. 

    Nielsen will integrate demographic data provided by The Trade Desk into the Nielsen ID System to provide more scope and accuracy in Nielsen’s digital ad measurement for the open internet, thereby connecting digital impressions to demographics across millions of devices. This will help in advancing more robust measurement and reporting across digital media, particularly over-the-page advertising, in key international markets that have the most room to benefit.  

    Advertisers and publishers can use Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings with more confidence knowing that the solution is aimed towards appropriately assigning and deduplicating audience demographics across mobile and PC platforms when a digital ad is viewed. With this initiative, Nielsen becomes a preferred measurement provider of The Trade Desk and builds on the two companies’ long-standing relationship.

    As part of the Nielsen ID System, the Nielsen ID Graph is calibrated against, and validated by, Nielsen’s people-based panels and truth sets. This deal will further position Nielsen to scale its ID Resolution System globally and truly deliver deduplicated audiences across linear and digital platforms as part of Nielsen One, its cross-media measurement solution.  

    “This strategic partnership with The Trade Desk immediately scales Nielsen’s Identity System globally, and showcases our commitment to independent measurement and marketplace interoperability, facilitating an open ecosystem for the media industry, with audiences de-duplicated across multiple platforms,” said Nielsen COO Karthik Rao. “We continue to evolve our technologies and methodologies as we move towards Nielsen One and this is a very important milestone for that vision of true cross-platform measurement across all screens, underpinned by a strong digital measurement capability.”

    “As the world’s largest independent demand-side platform, The Trade Desk is in a prime position to provide the open internet with a standard of measurement that improves data-driven decisioning, advertising performance and transparency,” stated The Trade Desk chief data officer Michelle Hulst. “We have long believed that it takes all of us to support the digital media ecosystem, especially in the world of measurement. We look forward to advancing the open internet together with Nielsen internationally.”

  • #Retrace2021: Inching towards a connected future of audience measurement

    #Retrace2021: Inching towards a connected future of audience measurement

    Mumbai: It was for the first time since the 1960s, that Nielsen’s measurement lost a “seal of approval” from the industry that uses it, as leading advertisers and TV networks sought alternate means of counting their audiences. The TV measurement company had long faced criticism from the Video Advertising Bureau (trade organisation representing the advertising sales departments of networks and distributors) over undercounting the TV viewing during the pandemic, and the exclusion of broadband-only homes. The months-long feud culminated in the suspension of accreditation of Nielsen’s national and local TV ratings service by the Media Ratings Council, effective mid-September 2021.

    Also read: Nielsen loses accreditation for TV measurement service

    Matters were further compounded by NBCUniversal launching a measurement RFP in August, calling for “measurement independence”. In September, even as Nielsen CEO David Kenny acknowledged the gap and bias in measurement as a result of the exclusion of broadband-only homes representing nearly 30 per cent of TV households in some local markets, ViacomCBS announced its partnership with software and data platform, VideoAmp for TV measurement data. The move opened the way for other networks to explore alternative means of counting their audiences.

    Also read: ViacomCBS teams up with VideoAmp for TV Measurement after Nielsen loses accreditation

    At the centre of this growing dissatisfaction with the panel-based measurement system was the Connected-TV revolution and the under as well as misrepresentation of the large universe of the audience that has either completely cut the cord or is consuming both linear and CTV across devices and platforms. The industry was clamouring for a unified identifier that could bring about fundamental changes in the current measurement system which oversimplifies viewing across CTV by extending linear TV measurement standards to it and/or combining two viewing data sets that do not have common metrics.

    Hopes were now pinned on Nielsen ONE, Nielsen’s single cross-media product providing reach and frequency metrics by delivering a holistic, deduplicated view of both content and ad performance regardless of screen, device or platform.

    Laying the groundwork for implementing the new flagship currency across local, national and digital measurement towards the end of September, Nielsen announced the “Impressions First Initiative” for impression-based buying and selling in local markets across the US, as well as the integration of Broadband-Only Homes into local measurement in January 2022. The impression-based currency will deliver a more complete, precise and representative audience measurement, along with the added benefit of enabling cross-platform audience measurement, it said. 

    Going full-throttle on its digital transformation, in October Nielsen unveiled a new brand campaign, including a new identity, reflecting the company’s focus on delivering digital-first and global-first media solutions in three areas—measurement, audience outcomes and content services. The shift signaled the combining and enhancing its measurement solutions into the single cross-media measurement solution, Nielsen One.

    Announcing the year’s biggest development and the culmination of a long wait, on 21 December 2021, Nielsen unveiled the first iteration of Nielsen ONE, ‘NielsenONE Alpha’ with Disney and MAGNA as participants. The newest deduplicated ad-measurement will continue to evolve with new feature additions, enhancements, and model improvements leading up to the launch of the final product in the fourth quarter of 2022.

    Aligning India with the global digital shift  

    While the connected TV/OTT ecosystem in India is not as well developed and deeply entrenched yet, it is relevant here to recall Barc India’s intent to initiate ‘one video view’ measurement, announced in September 2020 by ex CEO Sunil Lulla. At the height of the TRP scam that broke out around the same time, a section of the industry had expressed doubt regarding some stakeholders derailing the ratings agency’s efforts and intentions to bring forth a unified, cross-platform measurement system.

    Also read: Nielsen to launch new commercial metrics to track individual ads on TV

    The TRP committee formed in the aftermath of the scandal recommended measures to reinstate faith in the current rating system by strengthening corporate governance within Barc India at the board level through independent technical oversight, term limits, and wide representation that minimises conflicts of interest. The 39-page report also pushed for the formation of multiple rating agencies in competition to Barc India and creating a specialised regulator to oversee all of them.

    Even as it addressed the pitfalls in linear TV measurement, the four-member panel led by Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati laid down the framework for a comprehensive transformation and democratisation of the country’s rating systems and standards in line with the global shift towards digital.

    Considering the increasing convergence between STBs and smart media devices and the emergence of hybrid boxes capable of both CAS compliant linear TV viewing and internet streaming-based OTT viewing, the committee recommended a Return Path Data (RPD) mandate in all future STBs deployed by Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs). It also noted the emergence of smartphone-based apps capable of interacting with such hybrid boxes as paving the way for additional avenues for RPD data capture and relay.

    Further, it suggested the government/regulator examines incentives and policy interventions including FDI norms in the media audience measurement technology space so that India emerges as the hub for global innovation in this sector.

    Acknowledging the growth in digital advertising as well as the trend of linear TV viewing over interfaces other than traditional televisions and beyond the threshold of conventional households, the committee stressed the need for regulatory interventions to foster innovation while allowing for value chains to evolve, keeping pace with global trends and local market dynamics.

    “A hallmark of digital innovations over the past few decades has been disintermediation within value chains and disruption across industry domains, leveling the playing field and spurring competition. The world of linear television ought to be no exception to such disintermediation between buyers and sellers of media. There are no reasons why new models of advertising such as platform-based advertising, location-based advertising, programmatic advertising, etc must not emerge,” it said while adding that the guidelines prescribed must not privilege any one business model over another, nor create barriers to the emergence of more efficient business models.

    The above recommendations are both practicable and necessary considering the pace at which television viewing is evolving in India. As per mediasmart’s India CTV Report 2021, CTV viewing in India is on a significant uptick and increased by 31 per cent, compared to 81 per cent globally. Even though India is still a young market, it has tremendous potential for CTV adoption by consumers. In April 2020, 21 per cent of CTV viewing households were cord-cutters (households who cut the cord within the past five years), whereas 22 per cent were cord-nevers (households with no cable/satellite subscription in the past five years).

    Ormax Media research pins the Indian OTT audience universe at 353.2 million people, translating into a penetration of 25.3 per cent. According to various other estimates, the figure including YouTube is roughly 500 million. As regards CTV adoption, Madison’s Q2 report revealed that smart TV shipments grew by almost 65 per cent, claiming an 80 per cent share of the total TV shipments. Their massive adoption was fuelled by starting price points as low as Rs.15000.

    Given that TV as a medium still has considerable scope for growth in India, preparing for a connected future may seem like a long shot at this juncture. However, the Indian market which is often typecast as ‘underdeveloped’ is also a curious one where the digital revolution is being brought about by smartphones that have outmaneuvered PCs as the primary or base medium. With the current regulatory regime that seems to accelerate the clear segmentation of audience between Free Dish and streaming services by allegedly disincentivising Pay/Cable TV, we might be in for more surprises. 

  • Nielsen launches Streaming Signals for more efficient CTV advertising

    Nielsen launches Streaming Signals for more efficient CTV advertising

    Mumbai: Nielsen has announced the launch of Streaming Signals, a new solution for connected TV (CTV) operators and advertisers to better understand who is watching a show within the household. As a solution that unbundles household viewing, it will be the next step towards better presenting advertising at the personal level, said the company.

    Streaming Signals is well suited for Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) clients since these two solutions together enable them to both optimise and measure CTV reach for more efficient advertising. Using custom machine learning models based on historical viewership data to determine who is in the household, it delivers a signal to CTV operators within 50 seconds to indicate who is currently streaming program content, said the statement. “Streaming Signals enables both media buyers and media sellers to optimise and measure CTV reach for more efficient advertising, maximising ad revenue, and for delivery to streaming audiences,” it added.  

    The elimination of delivering irrelevant advertising to viewers results in advertisers and agencies making better and faster choices to reach their target audiences. In turn, with ad inventory that is more accurately packaged, media owners can attract more media dollars by delivering real-time advertising to the right audience.

    “Nielsen Streaming Signals brings a layer of unmatched real-time, person-level demographic precision to audience optimisation,” said Nielsen GM digital and advanced TV Ameneh Atai. “We know that the media industry is going through accelerated change and switching to a streaming-first approach with an audience watching programming whenever, wherever, and on a number of devices. Nielsen is the only one that is unbundling the household because we are the only ones that sit at the intersection of the streaming behaviour and audience data.”

    This solution is made possible by using machine learning algorithms, viewing from Nielsen’s gold-standard panel data, and the CTV provided viewership data to assign person-level demographics instantly. Once integrated, the CTV provider will notify the Nielsen system and will receive a signal containing information regarding who is most likely watching within the household. The CTV provider can then play a more ideal advertisement instead of playing the previous ad that was reserved, said the company.

    Traditionally, clients have looked at on-target percentage when evaluating advertising on CTV. Streaming Signals empowers them to positively impact that percentage by knowing who is behind the CTV screen before the ad is served. 

    Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) enables clients to understand who was reached by age and gender during the CTV advertising campaign. In turn, advertisers would rely on using either behavioural targeting (tracking digital behaviours aggregated at the household level) or contextual targeting (displaying an ad based on genre of content) to try and deliver the right ad to the right person. Streaming Signals brings the best of these solutions together to deliver a higher threshold of ad accuracy and relevance.