January 25, 2023
Rentrak Provides Metrics, Data To Better Target Consumers
- by David Goetzl @dgoetzl, July 7, 2010
Rentrak is making a bid to offer the elusive single-source metric to programmers and advertisers. Subscribers to its national and local TV measurement services can also receive data on purchase behavior, offering insight into whether a particular ad makes the cash register ring.
The company offers two viewer measurement services derived from set-top-box data under its "Essentials" brand -- one for national networks, the other for local stations. Viewing data can now be overlaid with purchase tracking provided by Experian Simmons.
Advertisers have long been searching for a system that matches whether a particular spot motivates buying. Recently, TRA has been offering a similar opportunity with a service that links viewing data from set-top-boxes with household-level shopping card data provided by supermarkets.
Rentrak says it will soon have second-by-second viewing data from 17 million TV sets, culled from Dish Network, AT&T U-verse and some Charter Communications (in Los Angeles) homes. Rentrak indicates that it can provide "single-source" data linking viewing to buying individually in all 210 DMAs.
Bill Livek, Rentrak CEO, stated that the Experian Simmons link brings an aspect of "direct marketing" to TV analysis, "benefiting all parties in the advertising ecosystem."
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Who cares about second by second worthless data? I dont understand why any advertiser would pay for that or any other data that Rentrak offers. This data is accessible at no charge from cable providers. Why would TV stations and advertisers pay for it through Rentrak? this data is not even thiers to begin with, it's pingged from set top boxes to cable companies. How would anyone even know that someone is watching that show or network.
Information like this is worthless. real information needs to be voluntary by viewers.