• by Wayne Friedman , January 31, 2012

PrecisionDemand, the new cross-media analytical service that maximizes TV buying for marketers, has struck an agreement with Rentrak Corp. for its key ratings service.

PrecisionDemand's deal is for Rentrak's TV Essentials and StationView Essentials, which are census-based TV ratings services. Rentrak's growing business has been viewed as a potential major competitor against  traditional ratings services, such as Nielsen.

"It is impossible for marketers to manage their business in a successful manner with the previously available rating services," stated Jon Mandel, chief executive officer of PrecisionDemand. "In order for advertising to actually deliver results-based metrics on TV spend, it's essential to use innovative technology. That is why Rentrak's TV ratings data is key to transforming advertising from an unquantified cost to a predictable business lever."

Mandel, a longtime media agency executive, recently came aboard to the top post at the company.

He has said that in contrast to some emerging measurement systems, which examine how ads in a TV program drive purchases, PrecisionDemand moves in reverse -- starting with the customer/viewer and then looking at set-top-box data to find TV shows where they are most likely to respond.

"The critical importance of understanding the actual success of an advertising campaign is the driver for our ROI measurement approach," said Brian Burdick, chief technology officer at PrecisionDemand.

Rentrak provides daily measurement of TV networks and stations in all 210 markets, getting set-top-box information from satellite, telco and cable TV viewing in more 19 million U.S. television homes.