Samba TV Data is Latest 'Puzzle' Piece for ANA's Aquila

US-based media intelligence company Samba TV is the latest partner for the ANA's cross-media measurement subsidiary Aquila, adding its streaming video measurement data to the initiative.

Samba TV provides real-time cross-platform measurement and audience optimization based on first-party data from millions of opted-in connected televisions, plus web data from more than 50 countries. Aquila was set up in June 2024 to build and manage a planned CMM solution for the ANA (the country's Association of National Advertisers) - its leadership consists of a coalition of ANA member advertiser companies, plus platforms including Google, Meta, Amazon and TikTok.

Samba TV's first-party streaming viewership data will now be integrated into Aquila's framework, helping it to complete its picture of advertisers' true audience reach across all major digital and television platforms. The partners say streaming TV has remained 'a significant blind spot' in cross-media measurement, despite its rapid growth to become an essential component of modern media. Samba's viewing data will join existing input from Google, Meta, TikTok, and Amazon, as well as linear data from Comscore.

Integration will occur in stages, with the aim of maintaining precision and scalability. The first phase will begin this quarter and focuses on data ingestion and integration, while the full campaign-level measurement capabilities are expected to be live during the second half of 2026.

Samba TV CEO and Co-founder Ashwin Navin (pictured above) comments, 'We are thrilled to join our friends at Aquila, which include some of the largest advertisers and media platforms, to crack the code of cross-platform measurement. Advertisers can no longer afford to measure media with currencies that treat streaming and digital as an afterthought to linear TV in their methodology. A cross-media view with a true streaming signal and collaboration with the biggest digital platforms in the world is a recipe for success. Samba provides a critical piece of the dataset that unlocks a uniquely holistic view that everyone has been waiting for.'

Aquila CEO Bill Tucker (pictured below) states: 'Completing the cross-media measurement puzzle requires a best-in-class partner for every piece of the ecosystem. As we work to ensure Aquila encompasses as many advertisers and streaming platforms as possible, Samba TV was the clear choice to address the complexities of the streaming landscape. Their robust data and privacy-safe methodology are essential to our mission of offering advertisers the first truly deduplicated view of their reach across every major screen, from the smartphone to the living room TV.'

Web sites: www.samba.com , www.ana.net and www.aquila-cmm.com .

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