Simulmedia Measures 'Cost Per Converted Viewer'

NYC-based Simulmedia has developed a tool measuring and comparing the number of viewers who saw ads for a particular TV program and those who actually went on to watch it as a result.

The firm's TV ad platform uses predictive technologies and anonymous viewing data from more than 30 million US households to help advertisers reach their target audiences, and measure the results.

The new 'historical calculator' tool uses more than four years of viewing data gathered from 50 million set-top boxes, with additional pricing data from Kantar Media, Nielsen, and other data from the US Census. It aims to show how much TV networks should spend to acquire viewers, how expensive it is to drive someone to watch a program, and how many additional viewers a network requires to reach ratings guarantees.

Through a 'cost per converted viewer' (CPCV) metric, the company calculates the total cost of the promotional ads across the campaign, divided by the number of converted viewers who saw the ad and then tuned in to the show live for at least six minutes. So, for example, if an advertiser spent $100k on TV ads to promote a TV show, and 100,000 people that viewed at least one of those ads went on to watch the promoted show, the CPCV would be $1.

CEO Dave Morgan (pictured) explains: 'Let's say a broadcast network has a new drama ready to air in the fall and the marketing team is requesting a budget of $500k to run promotional ads for the show. Based on 400 campaigns served by Simulmedia in the past three years, we can determine the estimated CCV of about $1.59 depending on the network, genre, series season, broadcast season calendar, etc.'

Web site: www.simulmedia.com .