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Tag: Nielsen

  • Nielsen One Alpha launches with Disney and Magna

    Nielsen One Alpha launches with Disney and Magna

    Mumbai: Nielsen has revealed the first iteration of Nielsen One – its single cross-platform measurement solution. The newest advancement ‘Nielsen One Alpha’ deduplicated ad measurement will be debuting at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. 

    Alpha will continue to evolve with new feature additions, enhancements, and model improvements leading up to the launch of Nielsen One in the fourth quarter of 2022.

    Disney and Magna have joined several agencies, advertisers, networks, and digital publishers as Nielsen One Alpha participants from both the buy and sell sides of the industry. Access to Nielsen One Alpha will give users the ability to measure advertising content across linear as well as digital platforms and provide holistic and harmonised ad metrics. 

    Nielsen One Alpha will be specific to ad campaigns, unveiling the first cross-platform measurement system of its kind that offers both comparability and audience deduplication across all screens (linear TV, connected TV, computer and mobile). Media buyers and sellers will for the first time have the most holistic view of their ads across consumer delivery systems and platforms in a harmonised manner—crucial as the linear and digital landscapes continue to rapidly converge. The deduplicated ad measurement metrics account for age and gender information.

    “All our hard work this past year has positioned us to take this significant step in fundamentally changing the game and providing the industry with what it wants, needs and deserves,” said Nielsen COO Karthik Rao.

    “We are on track to deliver our single cross-platform measurement solution in the fourth quarter of 2022, as planned and in a manner that will support the $100 billion video advertising ecosystem. The Alpha launch serves as a clear proof point in our ability to deliver and we are working closely with a diverse group of clients on this important step. In fact, Nielsen One will bring together all the intelligence we have to date in order to help clients capitalise on consumers’ rapidly shifting media habits,” added Rao.

    Nielsen will continue to release major enhancements to Nielsen One, leading up to its December 2022 launch, aimed at expanding its coverage, delivering comparability across linear TV and digital and strengthening the quality and usability of its data solutions.  

    “There’s a critical need for the evolution of measurement to truly reflect audiences and engagement, and Disney is uniquely positioned to help define and develop that roadmap,” stated Disney media & entertainment distribution head of research, insights and analytics Julie DeTraglia. “We are pleased to join the Nielsen One Alpha program to ensure it accurately creates a holistic view of ad performance and content viewership for the industry.”

    “We are pleased to be working with Nielsen to provide insight and feedback regarding Nielsen One and ensure it delivers on its promise of being a truly holistic cross-screen measurement solution,” said Magna EVP and managing director of audience intelligence & strategy Brian Hughes.

    This news builds on a series of industry-leading enhancements made by Nielsen over the past year, including the transformation of its digital measurement, onboarding big data for inclusion into its National TV measurement service in September 2022, rebranding its streaming suite, unveiling its cookieless approach, rolling out an ID Resolution System and most recently, enhancing its national television measurement by measuring viewing in a more precise manner with individual commercial metrics.

  • Nielsen enhances identity system for digital ad measurement in 15 new markets

    Nielsen enhances identity system for digital ad measurement in 15 new markets

    Mumbai: Nielsen has announced the release of its enhanced identity system for digital ad ratings in 15 markets starting on 1 February 2022. This change enables more accurate digital ad measurement, connecting digital impressions to the demographics of people across billions of devices in preparation for a cookieless future, it said.

    Following the roll out in the UK, Italy, and France on 1 February, the enhanced Nielsen Identity System for digital ad ratings is planned for release in Japan, Australia, India, and Germany on 1 April; Spain, Brazil, Indonesia, and Canada on 1 May; and Singapore, Mexico, Thailand, and Hong Kong on 1 June. Nielsen plans to release the enhanced Identity System across other markets on a monthly cadence following the initial releases in 2022, said the company in a statement.

    In addition, Nielsen continues to enter into and expand its relationships with both global and local data providers to power up the Nielsen Identity System. Today the firm has added more than two billion de-duplicated identifiers across markets into the Identity System, growing every day.

    “With this enhancement to our Identity System, we are taking another step to assure the longevity of ad measurement amidst the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem,” commented Nielsen SVP – product management Sarah Miller. “Because of Nielsen’s unique data assets, we are not only able to adjust and correct licensed third-party user registration data using panels, we have also developed sophisticated machine learning algorithms to cluster digital IDs into people and correct for any possible imbalances from the market’s universe of users. It is this advanced data science methodology fuelled by the sheer volume of Nielsen Identities that will empower the digital ad measurement into the future.”

    To combat the issue of cookie and mobile ad id erosion and in preparation for an increasingly fragmented future, Nielsen previously announced the revolution of digital audience measurement by providing holistic people-based measurement across devices, de-duplicating across platforms and publishers.

    The Nielsen Identity System serves to unify the identity data that Nielsen receives in an interoperable way across the media ecosystem. Advertisers and publishers can use Nielsen measurement with confidence knowing that when a digital ad is viewed then the measured demographics are appropriately assigned and the audiences are deduplicated across mobile and PC platforms in order to get to true people-based metrics. Nielsen achieves this by uniquely combining Nielsen assets with third-party data sets calibrated against truth sets.

    “Nielsen continues to evolve its technologies and methodologies for independent measurement of audiences as the industry itself evolves to utilise cross-media measurement,” said Nielsen’s international chief growth officer and president Sean Cohan. “Nielsen’s strategic measurement approach positions the company to deliver deduplicated audiences across linear and digital as part of Nielsen One.” 

  • Nielsen to launch new commercial metrics to track individual ads on TV

    Nielsen to launch new commercial metrics to track individual ads on TV

    Mumbai: Nielsen has announced that it will enhance its National television measurement by measuring viewing in a more precise manner, allowing for a future where audience estimates are based on individual ads rather than commercial minutes.

    The latest enhancement to Nielsen Individual Commercial Metrics will help pave the way for true comparability across the digital and linear platforms and comes following a series of tech, measurement and methodology advancements as Nielsen accelerates its efforts for delivery of Nielsen One, its cross-platform measurement solution, it said on Monday.

    With more precise commercial measurement, agencies, advertisers and brands will have the unprecedented ability to directly compare, plan and optimise ad campaign performance over both digital platforms and linear TV.

    The announcement comes three months after the company lost the industry approval for its national TV rating service after the board of the US-based Media Rating Council (MRC) suspended its accreditation. The suspension of the decades-old TV rating service followed a long standoff between Nielsen and the networks over the former’s services, including discrepancies in the data shared by the company during the pandemic.

    Nielsen said it has also expanded its relationship with Extreme Reach, the global leader in creative logistics, allowing for an efficient way of encoding the vast majority of all national linear TV commercials with Nielsen’s watermarks, which will launch in the first half of 2022.

    “We’re very pleased to collaborate with Nielsen on this important step in improving workflow efficiency for marketing teams, which has been at the core of our mission at Extreme Reach for over a decade. Nielsen’s ongoing efforts to embrace the morphing worlds of linear and digital TV now provide a means for marketers and their agencies to understand and value digital and linear TV commercials in a directly comparable way, which is a distinct improvement for the industry,” said  Extreme Reach COO Gaurav Agarwal.

    Nielsen’s new Individual Commercial Metrics reporting capability will enable the measurement of linear television at a “subminute” level and audience estimates at a level of granularity that is more comparable to digital. Providing comparability in this manner paves the way for Nielsen One to provide something long sought after as an industry imperative—true deduplication across platforms, it said.

    “Giving the industry true, trusted metrics that offer harmonisation across platforms is the bedrock to revolutionising the cross-media buying and selling process and a foundational step toward Nielsen ONE,” said Nielsen SVP Product Management Kim Gilberti. “By transforming our TV measurement and moving to Individual Commercial Metrics, both media buyers and sellers will be able to maximise the value of their inventory as well as capitalise and drive return on investment of their advertising spend across the rapidly converging traditional and digital landscapes.”

    As a first step in this plan, in early 2022 Nielsen will enhance its process for collecting and crediting watermarks, enabling the detection of watermarks more frequently within a given minute, allowing for credit of shorter duration events, such as individual ads. This change will give sellers the ability to utilise Nielsen’s reporting to properly value their commercial inventory—from pricing to placement.

    For the first time, Nielsen’s television measurement will also leverage Gracenote Content Signatures, which will allow for granular crediting for instances where there is no watermark present.

  • Spotify pushes the cart on the omnishopper’s retail journey

    Spotify pushes the cart on the omnishopper’s retail journey

    Mumbai: It’s never been a better time to be a shopper, given today’s buy-anywhere retail environment. It’s raining deals at stores, on social media, and inside in the comfort of the couch at your fingertips. Mobile commerce is expected to make up 83 per cent of all e-commerce sales by 2024, and 8 per cent of total retail1. And now shopping is such that points of discovery differ from the actual spot of purchase. A product on a streaming platform like Spotify catches a shopper’s eye who then swings by the store or their preferred e-commerce platform.

    Catch the big wave in omnichannel surfing

    With e-commerce sales expected to grow by 27 per cent by the end of 20211, there are more ways to shop and even more places for shoppers to discover that great find. So for an ‘omni-shopper’ who shops across multiple devices and places, more accessibility does not make it easy for brands to target them. These shoppers aren’t just buying what they need, they’re constantly looking for what they want, or didn’t know they wanted until they discovered it. This can make it hard for brands to foresee and prepare for their next move.

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    Being spoiled for choice, messaging to this new-age consumer has to feel authentic, tailored, and respectful of their time and sensibilities. If not, they are going to bounce. So brands need to advertise in the right place that people trust. And when they do make a decision, it’s because they sense a personal relationship between themselves and the brand. At Spotify, we’ve worked hard to build this trust with our listeners.

    Omnishoppers seek out to make a statement. 89.7 per cent of Spotify Free listeners discover brands and products from paid advertising2. A pair of kicks before everyone’s wearing them is a thing of pride, much like being the first in their group to discover a new song from a favourite artist.

    The chase excites them and they know where to find it, just like how 43 per cent of Gen Z Spotify users said they’ve heard a song on social media, and then searched for it on Spotify3. And that’s why our listeners spend their time with us, eager to explore, spending an average of 2.5 hours every day, with multi-device listeners of Spotify Free spending an average of 1.5 hours on Spotify each day4.

    Another big reason for brands to look at Spotify is what our listeners are planning. After delaying purchases in 2020, one in three Spotify users is looking at large, big-ticket purchases. Keep in mind that this is a user base that is likely to spend 15 per cent more on what they want than any other cohort

    The experience gets more personalised for them as they spend more time listening. So Spotify matches their vibe through different moments of their day, and no other media can match that level of connection.

    When it’s relevant, the recall is better too as 75 percent of Spotify listeners say they remember ads more when brands recognise their moment or setting5. Spotify helps brands reach listeners at the right moment, and the numbers speak for themselves – 2.7x higher awareness and 5.3x higher intent than campaigns with basic demographic targeting5.

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    Help shoppers spot the next big thing on Spotify: Your brand

    Spotify listeners are savvy to online shopping trends. They are the trendsetters. Spotify Free listeners are almost 4.3x more likely to discover brands and products via music streaming than through TV ads and 1.5x more likely than through radio ads2. Offers and benefits can be the turning point to steer through a plethora of options. 59% of Spotify Free users agree that free delivery is the top driver of online purchases for them2. 51 percent prefer easy returns and 45 percent pick the lure of discounts and coupons2.

    It all comes down to targeting the right audience and enabling discovery for the engaged listener in an environment of trust. It’s just this that Spotify has built, that listeners keep coming back to every day, giving brands the perfect vantage point to reach the elusive omnishopper.

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    Get in touch with us at spotify-advertising-india@spotify.com to see how your brand can engage with the right audience – avid shoppers and people seeking some retail therapy.

    Sources:

    1 – eMarketer, Retail Forecast, IN

    2 – GWI, IN, Q1 2021

    3 – Spotify Culture Next survey, conducted in April 2021 among 500 respondents 15-40 in India

    4- IFPI Digital Music Report 2019

    5 – Spotify Nielsen Brand Effect Studies, 2018

    (This is an Advertorial, published in association with Spotify)

  • OACT2021: Plugging the gap of measurability

    OACT2021: Plugging the gap of measurability

    Mumbai: The burgeoning of OTT content consumption in the past couple of years fuelled a proportional increase in the demand for third-party viewership data which, in turn, led to the proliferation of tools and technology available for digital measurement. Some of the important trends and challenges that emerged as a result of these developments were discussed at the OTT Advertising and Connected TV Summit organised by Indiantelevision.com on 7 and 8 October. The two-day event was powered by Mediasmart, an Affle Company and summit partner The Q.

    During the session titled ‘Plugging the gap of measurability’ the expert panel comprising of Integral Ad Science- India Country Head, VP Engineering & Operations – Mehul Desai, DoubleVerify- head of sales, India, Nachiket Deole, Synamedia- principal product manager, Advanced Advertising – Synamedia, Daniel Wohlfart, and Nielsen Media India MD, Dolly Jha shed light on why digital measurement cannot be a simple ‘plug and play’ game, and the need for evolving metrics, for data sharing as well as well-thought-out measurement strategies optimised for through-the-funnel advertising. The discussion was moderated by Madison World, Madison Media Sigma CEO Vanita Keswani.

    Sharing some stark facts to explain the emergence of fraud prevention as the top trend in the digital measurement space, Integral Ad Science’s Mehul Desai said, “Annually, close to 35 billion advertising dollars are lost to global ad fraud. It is the second biggest industry, after drugs, in terms of organised crime.” Daniel Wohlfart further pointed out that “almost every ad campaign in Europe comes with a built-in requirement for ad verification by third-party.”

    In the Indian context where OTT measurement is in the early stages and many advertisers are starting out on their digital journeys, trends point towards increasing awareness on the issue.

    At Neilsen, measuring the percentage of ad fraud is one of the deliverables on every campaign, yet “not more than 25-30 per cent of ad spends are getting measured currently,” observed Dolly Jha. She added that systematic and consistent measurement of ROIs, the technology and tools for which exist and are being implemented as well, has to be set in to scale up ad fraud prevention, attributions, data sharing, and other aspects of OTT measurement.

    As Desai indicated the growing importance of brand suitability for a particular ad environment and context matching in a world where “advertising has changed from being persona and user-driven to being context-driven”, Nachiket Deole of DoubleVerify shared his understanding of marketers moving beyond traditional metrics such as CTR, VTR, CPRP, and even polls and attributions to measure the impact of consumer action in real-time – how consumers are responding to/engaging with their campaigns. “We always recommend our clients to optimise campaigns on all aspects – ad fraud, viewability, brand safety. Every single impression must pass through all three quality parameters for it to become a quality impression and deliver results.” 

    With the above, almost all components for evolving a third-party cross-platform digital measurement ecosystem – the demand for which is seeing a significant push from advertisers across categories, are in place, except the industry has to work around accessing, and not breaching, the Walled Gardens. Jha shared that while there has been some tight-fisting from expected quarters “the number of publishers that have come on board for measurement at Nielsen in the past nearly 18 months has been phenomenal.”

    Concerted efforts are needed to sustain this extremely positive development towards the inevitable goal. “There is increasing awareness among the walled gardens and independent broadcasters/publishers of third-party cross-platform measurement as a thing that advertisers want to achieve. The unique identifiers that these broadcasters have are their most valuable asset; naturally, they want to be able to monetise as well as safeguard it. As platform providers, it is important for us to convince and enable them – through tech and tools – to buy at their own standards, because otherwise, the budgets are just not there,” Synamedia’s Wohlfart explained in his closing remarks to the session.

  • ViacomCBS teams up with VideoAmp for TV Measurement after Nielsen loses accreditation

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

    New Delhi: Media and entertainment major ViacomCBS on Tuesday announced its partnership with software and data platform, VideoAmp for TV measurement data, possibly leading the way for other networks as they explore alternative means of counting their audiences.

    The announcement comes weeks after the US industry watchdog Media Rating Council (MRC) suspended the accreditation of Nielsen’s TV rating service. The suspension of the decades-old TV rating service followed a long standoff between Nielsen and the networks over the former’s services, including discrepancies in the data shared by the company during the pandemic. It was for the first time since the 1960s, that Nielsen’s measurement lost a “seal of approval” from the industry that uses it, leading advertisers and TV networks to seek alternate means of counting their audiences. 

    According to the partnership announced on Tuesday, VideoAmp will provide ViacomCBS with an alternative currency to plan, transact and measure national media campaigns accelerating the company’s multi-currency strategy. ViacomCBS which owns CBS, cable networks including Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, and ad-supported streaming services Pluto TV and Paramount Plus will leverage VideoAmp’s proprietary commingled TV Viewership dataset to guarantee linear media transactions against age and gender demographics.

    “The measurement marketplace needs diversification. VideoAmp is an innovator who can help us accelerate our vision around the future of currency. We are excited to leverage their platform to bring better insights and better measurement to advertisers and their agencies,” said ViacomCBS COO of advertising revenue John Halley in a statement.

    Additionally, the media and entertainment company will utilise VideoAmp’s data as an underlying currency to create and guarantee delivery of media campaigns against customised advanced audience segments through Vantage, ViacomCBS’ advanced advertising platform. Vantage is a sophisticated data-targeting platform, offering predictive modeling, continual optimisation, and insights to help advertisers understand their audiences and how best to reach them. 

    Meanwhile, VideoAmp aspires to redefine the way media is valued, bought, and sold. “The VideoAmp dataset is known for its scale as well as its proprietary methodology of combining STB and ACR data into a unified dataset, which enables a de-duplicated view of media delivery and advertising performance against any audience across traditional TV, streaming video, and digital media,” said the data platform in a statement.

    “We are thrilled to be partnering with ViacomCBS as an alternative currency as they go into a new broadcast season. We truly value ViacomCBS and its forward-thinking strategy when it comes to a new era of media transaction, measurement, and, ultimately, the currency options that power it. We want to unlock value for publishers in a privacy-safe way that keeps their audiences at the forefront, regardless of the channel they’re using,” said VideoAmp CEO and co-founder Ross McCray.

  • Neilsen announces ‘Impressions-First Initiative’ for cross-platform measurement

    Neilsen announces ‘Impressions-First Initiative’ for cross-platform measurement

    Mumbai: Nielsen has announced that it will take the lead on an ‘Impressions-First Initiative’ to support an industry-wide move to impressions-based buying and selling in local markets across the US. The move to impressions will occur in conjunction with the integration of broadband-only (BBO) homes into Nielsen’s local measurement metrics in January 2022, said the global market information & measurement company on Tuesday.

    According to a statement, migration to an impressions-based currency will deliver a more complete, precise and representative audience measurement, along with the added benefit of enabling cross-platform audience measurement.

    “In today’s fragmented media landscape, the shift to impressions lays the groundwork for implementing Nielsen One across local, national, and digital measurement. The inclusion of BBO homes will enable the industry to rapidly transition to trading on impressions. Impressions represent all viewers regardless of platform—which is especially important given the significant and growing penetration of BBO homes in local markets,” the company said.

    For more than two years, Nielsen has been working with the media and advertising industries in preparation for the inclusion of BBO homes in local TV measurement for its 56 LPM and set meter markets.

    “Nielsen is committed to measuring all audiences and the complete video consumption across the local marketplace,” said Nielsen CEO David Kenny. “Impressions are the great equaliser across all screens, programs, listeners and viewers. Nielsen’s move to prioritise reporting impressions will help standardise the way it measures ads and content, enabling greater comparability across national, local and digital and is in line with Nielsen’s initiative to drive comparable metrics which are foundational to Nielsen One.”

    Nielsen, which had previously announced a BBO implementation date of October 2021, made the final decision to begin implementation in January 2022 in response to industry requests. The TV measurement company had been facing criticism from the Video Advertising Bureau (trade organisation representing the advertising sales departments of networks and distributors) over the accuracy of its ratings, following which the Media Ratings Council (MRC) had suspended its accreditation for national and local TV ratings service in September.

    The new timing will enable the rating company to publish an official BBO UE that will be audited and reviewed by the MRC. In addition to delivering one month of impact data, a January implementation will include all BBO homes. Adding BBO homes will increase reporting sample sizes significantly and capture impressions that may be missing, especially for sports and OTT content.

    Concurrent with Nielsen’s support of an industry-wide move from ratings to impressions in January 2022, the company will default its local reporting settings to impressions in its software systems (Arianna, NLTV, eVip) and will lead with impressions in all of its external communications. Ratings will remain available to end-users for planning purposes. 

  • CTV behind the growing dissatisfaction with Nielsen’s audience measurement system

    CTV behind the growing dissatisfaction with Nielsen’s audience measurement system

    Mumbai: Nielsen is in the eye of the storm once again following the suspension of accreditation for National and Local TV Ratings service in the US by the Media Ratings Council, effective mid-September. The TV measurement company had long been facing criticism from the Video Advertising Bureau (the trade organisation representing the advertising sales departments of networks and distributors) over the accuracy of its ratings. The months-long feud culminated in the VAB formally petitioning MRC to strip Nielsen’s accreditation citing undercounting TV viewing during the pandemic, and the exclusion to-date of broadband-only homes as primary reasons.

    Submitting an in-depth 10-page document to the MRC, the VAB detailed the five specific violations of minimum standards committed by Nielsen starting March 2020. “Although Nielsen has taken steps to rectify the issues with its sample, our current analysis proves the issue persists.  With nearly 18 per cent of respondents still missing, the sample still does not accurately represent the TV viewing population, particularly diverse and younger homes,” it stated.

    While Nielsen cited Covid-related disruptions as an explanation for undercounting during the pandemic, the growing dissatisfaction with its panel-based measurement system stems from the more fundamental problem around both the underrepresentation as well as the 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 numbers which were already on the rise witnessed unprecedented growth in the past 18-20 months in the US.

    According to database company, Statista’s research titled ‘Connected TV advertising in the US – statistics & facts’ published this June, the number of CTV users in the US reached an impressive 203 million in 2020. CTV ad spend at $13.41bn amounted to 4.7 per cent share in total ad spend, with the most common share of ad budget dedicated to CTV being 10-20 per cent. CTV ad household reach stood at 78 per cent. Stating targeting and efficiency as the top reasons, 42 per cent of advertisers were planning to increase spend on OTT/CTV.

    On 1 September, Nielsen CEO David Kenny had also, in a letter addressed to clients, said, “Broadband-only homes are an important audience now representing nearly 30 per cent of TV households in some local markets. We believe it is critical to include them in local measurement as soon as possible, but we agree that we need to move to an explicit universe estimate. Their exclusion to-date means a gap and bias in measurement and we have been and continue to commit to integrating them in a responsible way.”

    Last month, the firm had announced its intention to add Broadband-Only (BBO) homes to its panels in October, but that did not deter MRC from revoking Nielsen’s accreditation. The Council had expressed reservation about the effectiveness of the plan, given the need for 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.

    For this very reason, the clamour for evolving a unified identifier has only grown since the groundbreaking innovation began redefining broadcast in the US close to a decade ago; however, the complexity and fragmentation of the ecosystem have kept the industry from arriving at it so far.

    The pandemic and other recent developments seem to have put the exercise on fast forward.

    Matters were further compounded by NBCUniversal launching a measurement RFP in August, calling for “measurement independence”.

    Hopes are now pinned on Nielsen ONE, the single cross-media product which will provide reach and frequency metrics by delivering a holistic, de-duplicated view of both content and ad performance regardless of screen, device or platform. The new flagship currency expected to launch in 2022 aims to address the pressing concern of duplication in CTV measurement, at the same time bringing linear TV measurement on par with digital viewing.

    Noteworthy here is the fact that Nielsen has been on an extended hiatus for its digital ad ratings (DAR) service since October last year. In January, it entered another six-month hiatus for its local TV ratings service, which was also extended through the end of 2021. On August 11, Nielsen had further initiated the accreditation hiatus process for its National TV ratings service with the MRC; all in an attempt to concentrate its audit-related efforts on continuing to address panel concerns alongside the transformation of the National TV product and development of Nielsen ONE.

    In fact, going beyond the unifier currency, Nielsen has been heading in his direction for quite some time now.  The big highlights were its decision to measure CTV campaigns on YouTube and YouTube TV for the first time (announced October 2020) and the Roku-Nielsen strategic alliance in March 2021.

    YouTube, vice-president – global solutions, Debbie Weinstein had said, “Over 100 million people in the US watch YouTube and YouTube TV on their connected TVs every month. Advertisers are asking for third-party measurement partners like Nielsen to provide a complete view of YouTube and YouTube TV audiences, so they can understand the scale of the audience they’re able to reach through CTV campaigns.”

    In March, Roku entered into an agreement to acquire Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising (AVA) business which includes Nielsen’s video automatic content recognition (ACR) and dynamic ad insertion (DAI) technologies. The objective of the acquisition was to accelerate Roku’s launch of an end-to-end DAI solution with TV programmers. Additionally, Nielsen and Roku forged a strategic partnership to integrate complementary Nielsen ad and content measurement products into the Roku platform and further advance Nielsen ONE. Roku is a leading American manufacturer of digital media players. The Company also operates the No. 1 TV streaming platform in the US as measured by hours streamed (Kantar 2020).

    Given that tech-led innovation has a history of effecting the worldwide industry overhauls in a not-so-organic manner, these developments, though specific to the US, are being carefully studied in India. While the connected TV/OTT ecosystem in the country 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 last September by former CEO Sunil Lulla. The much-awaited and much-touted Nielsen ONE may well serve as a template or the indicator of the nearness of an inevitable change, if not a universal go-ahead for players globally.

  • Disney Plus’ Falcon and Winter Soldier tops Nielsen’s streaming chart

    Disney Plus’ Falcon and Winter Soldier tops Nielsen’s streaming chart

    Mumbai: Netflix is the uncrowned SVOD king in the United States. This is what the latest report from US-based information, data, and market measurement firm Nielsen seems to suggest. According to Nielsen’s data, the OTT giant enjoys an unquestionable lead compared to their competitors, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video in all categories that include original series, movies, and acquired shows. 

    The Falcon and the Winter Soldier leads the series category

    The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the most popular original series in the United States. Premiered on Disney+, this six-episode series is a part of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU). The mini-series received rave reviews from all corners, and audiences are now eagerly waiting for a fourth Captain America movie which will be the continuation of this series. 

    Amazon Prime’s Them is another original series that is grabbing maximum eyeballs. Created by Little Marvin and executive produced by Lena Waithe, this horror anthology series has impressed the viewers with its raw cinematic language. The series stars Deborah Ayorinde, Ashley Thomas, Alison Pill, and Ryan Kwanten in the lead roles. 

    Netflix has a handful of original series that are now the hottest picks among the US audiences. The OTT giant’s reality show ‘The Circle’ is enjoying a huge fan base in the country.  Amid receiving negative reviews, Netflix’s Dad stop embarrassing me has been received warmly by the US audiences. The historical drama series The Crown has also succeeded in impressing the audiences. Other Netflix series that are currently placed in Nielsen’s list of top originals in the US are The Crown, The Serpent, and Who Killed Sara. 

    Netflix’s Thunder Force creates wonders

    When it comes to movies on SVOD, Netflix’s Thunder Force topped Nielsen’s list. Directed by Ben Falcone, this film stars Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Bobby Cannavale, Pom Klementieff, Taylor Mosby, Melissa Leo, and Jason Bateman in the lead roles. Upon its digital release on 9 April on Netflix, the film received unanimously positive reviews from audiences and critics. The movie revolves around the life of two childhood best friends who meet in the latter part of their lives, and one among them now has a formula that could give superhuman powers to ordinary people. 

    American documentary movie Why did you Kill Me? is another top pick among US audiences. The film follows the life of Belinda Lane as she tracks down those involved in the murder of Crystal Theobald, her daughter, using MySpace.

    The science-fiction movie Synchronic is another Netflix film that is topping Nielsen’s list. Directed by Justin Benson, this film stars Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan in the lead roles. The film revolves around the life of New Orleans paramedics and long-time best friends Steve and Dennis who discover a mysterious new drug at the scene of multiple gruesome accidents. 

    Disney+ films that enjoy a spot in the Nielsen list are Moana, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Frozen. However, no movies from Amazon Prime Video were included in this list of most-watched movies in the United States. 

    According to the Nielsen data in the acquired show category, Netflix is away ahead of Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. The top show in this list is Netflix’s NCIS, followed by Grey’s Anatomy, Cocomelon, Criminal Minds, Schitts Creek, Heartland, Nicky Ricky Dicky and Dawn, The Baker, and The Beauty, Supernatural and New Girl. No acquired show available on Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video made its way to the list of most-watched acquired shows. 

  • Locally nuanced shows help to bring in relevance from an Indian context: ZEEL’s Kartik Mahadev

    Locally nuanced shows help to bring in relevance from an Indian context: ZEEL’s Kartik Mahadev

    MUMBAI: Hollywood has always enjoyed a passionate fanbase in India which only grows by leaps and bounds with each passing year. Today, Hollywood movies aren’t just for the English-speaking audiences living in metros as we see movie enthusiasts in Bharat and India with the same level of passion and connectedness as the global fan following. The &flix study, ‘Hollywood is for everyone,’ explores how Hollywood enjoys a universal appeal in India, and gives an insight into the lifestyles and mindsets of movie buffs. 

    ZEEL premium channels business head Kartik Mahadev said that the research has helped the channel to curate its offerings like &flix’s fastest to television premieres, which reduce the theatre-to-TV wait time by half, along with the multi-language block ‘Flix for all’.

    The study also disclosed that Hollywood’s entertainment quotient fares better than Bollywood / regional? Does this mean brands indulge more in premium content?

    Mahadev highlighted that Hollywood viewers are brand conscious and in-sync with the latest trends. They seek new experiences and crave adventure. Said he: “For these consumers seeking a badge-value with something aspirational, Hollywood forms the ultimate getaway. With its sophisticated visual effects, unique concepts and aspirational characters, today Hollywood’s fandom in India cuts across languages and cultures and is not just limited to the English-speaking consumers in the metros.”

    The &flix study also revealed that 80 per cent Hollywood enthusiasts admitted that brands placed in the movies / intermittent TV ads influence their purchases. Mahadev revealed that for its customers, English content on television provides youth-focused brands and premium brands the opportunity to associate with a premium subscriber base.

    “Recently, for the premiere of Jumanji: The Next Level on &flix and a simulcast in Hindi on Zee Cinema, we successfully reached a wider audience by providing access through language. Some of the most reputable brands came on board as partner for the property on &flix such as Kia Motors, Ariel, Amazon, Airtel 4G, Xiaomi, Protinex and ITC, along with Bingo Potato chips, Hyundai Creta, Behrouz Biryani, Bharat Matrimony and Cinthol onboard for the Hindi simulcast. The premiere garnered an overwhelming response, taking it to the next level with a whopping 34 million reach, making it one of the biggest premieres in the last 12 months,” he shared.

    Since its launch two years ago, &flix has challenged the English movie genre codes in addressing fan experience on television. According to Mahadev, ‘Ticket to Hollywood’ broadens access to Hollywood movies across the country, bringing movies closer to fans while creating value for brands who want to engage with the ardent audience across regions. The pan-network property will see Hollywood’s latest and top-rated movies dubbed in regional languages premiere across Zee channels like &PrivéHD, Zee Café, &Pictures, Zee Thirai, Zee Cinemalu, Zee Punjabi, Zee Biskope, Zee Talkies, Zee Picchar, Zee Sarthak and Zee Bangla Cinema. In addition, the channel’s flagship property ‘Flix superheroes’ featuring the latest superhero hits will begin airing in November.

    For the launch of ‘Ticket to Hollywood’ the channel has adopted a robust 360-degree campaign approach across platforms like DTH, digital, TV and trade. The network has leveraged social media to drive communication around the premiere of Bloodshot in the essence of the languages across markets. High-impact promo films across Zee movie channels further brought the biggest festive offering on television alive.

    Mahadev added, "We have Colgate onboard as the presenting sponsor for the premiere of Bloodshot across 11 of our ZEE channels. Moreover, with the premiere across Zee English cluster we are thrilled to deliver value to not just our discerning viewers but also our customers and are pleased to have brands like Venky’s Purotein, HUL (Lifeboy), KIA, TVS, Amazon, Sprite and Kelvinator onboard for the premiere.

    English GECs have always faced the ‘acquired’ versus ‘original local content’ dichotomy. It is believed that English GEC channels can earn higher ad revenue from their original programs. But the question arises why the channels have not yet experimented with local content.

    Mahadev opined that original programming with locally nuanced shows does help bring in relevance from an Indian context. While marquee international shows bring the best of the world to its viewers, locally produced content allows the broadcasters to add a new dimension from the Indian point of view. Said he: “Being the pioneers when it comes to original programming with India’s first-ever English fiction show Bombay Talking, Zee Café brought in relevance with content that is locally nuanced for the Indian viewer. What followed was the introduction of successful properties such as Look Who’s Talking with Niranjan, Not Just Supper Stars and Starry Nights that truly added a unique flavour to Zee Café’s wide repertoire of content.”

    He pointed to Zee Café's recently launched first-ever original production Dance With Me featuring celebrity dance experts Shakti Mohan and Mukti Mohan. The show adds to the merriment of the festive season coupled with a unique and interactive format via exciting weekly hook step challenges. The series is co-powered by Loreal Paris extraordinary oil serum & Jeevansaathi.com, cosmetic partner Dazzler Eterna with special partners Yamaha Fascino 125 Fi and Only Natural Diamonds.