NBCUniversal Launches 'First' Unified Ad Metric

NBCUniversal has launched what it describes as the industry's first unified ad metric, combining live, on-demand and time-shifted ad impressions on all viewing platforms; a measure it hopes will be adopted by the industry as the new currency for buying and selling ads.

Known as CFlight, the metric is based on a composite score developed from independent, third party sources to equate linear and digital media viewing, providing advertisers with a measure of their marketing campaign's ad exposures within full episodes of shows, across all screens. NBCUniversal says this is the industry's first cross-platform ad solution that only counts digital impressions that are viewed to completion.

CFlight will use industry measurement sources including Nielsen, comScore, Moat and others, and the composite measurement includes co-viewing on OTT platforms where measurement is enabled. NBCUniversal will also commit to delivering post-campaign metrics and reports combining both linear and digital delivery across all platforms. The Media Rating Council (MRC) has proposed a similar standard, but has not moved fast enough for some: NBCUniversal says it has gone solo to speed up the process. According to Laura Molen, the firm's EVP, Lifestyle and Hispanic Advertising Sales, 'We have waited for the industry standard and it hasn't happened. We can no longer wait because viewership is moving so much further to digital. Consumers are viewing content wherever, whenever they want'.

Responding to the news in a statement, Nielsen said it supports NBCUniversal's efforts, which include its own TV and digital ad currency. 'We've been working closely with NBCU and other key industry leaders on solutions to expand the currency definition so that it takes into account cross-device consumer viewing behavior as well as media owners' desire for more flexibility in receiving currency credit for audiences to ads. NBCU's announcement today is a reflection of this work, and we look forward to our continued partnership as we collectively develop and implement new innovations in measurement' Nielsen added.

Web site: www.nbcuniversal.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.