Samsung Hedges Advanced TV Measurement Bets, Licenses Nielsen Data
- by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, May 13, 2021
Samsung -- one of the largest purveyors of ACR (automatic content recognition) data derived from smart TVs used by that ad industry, if not the largest -- is hedging its audience-measurement bets by going with the industry’s tried-and-true measurement brand: Nielsen.
In a deal being announced today, the Samsung Ads division of Samsung Electronics has agreed to license Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings -- and will provide it to advertisers and agencies buying “Samsung TV Plus,” its free, ad-supported advanced TV advertising inventory.
Samsung Ads said it is licensing the Nielsen data to make it easier for advertisers to buy and optimize its advertising inventory, but it also said it will not be the exclusive means of providing audience measurement to its customers.
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"With the largest ACR data set in the industry, Samsung Ads has and will continue to offer a myriad of measurement solutions to clients,” Samsung Ads Senior Vice President Tom Fochetta said, adding, “Nielsen DAR doesn’t replace any capability, it adds to the choices we provide advertisers. We believe this will be particularly compelling for those advertisers who rely on Nielsen demo measurement for their planning and buying.”
Fochetta characterized the Nielsen data as “providing a bridge transitioning advertisers from a linear past to a CTV future,” explaining: “Ultimately our goal is to help simplify the buying process.”
Nielsen’s DAR data will be available to advertisers who buy Samsung Ads via direct insertion orders or through its programmatic “private marketplace.”
Samsung estimates that more than half of its viewers are “cord-cutters or cord-nevers” and that "90% of Samsung TV Plus viewers do not use an connected streaming devices and instead stream directly from their Samsung smart TV sets."
The company said the deal is the first step in what it expects to be a developing relationship with Nielsen, adding that it will also be part of Nielsen’s “One” integrated linear and non-linear audience measurement platform, which it plans to release in late 2022.
Very sound decision by Samsung, Joe, as Nielsen is clearly moving in to be the primary "rating" source for AVOD and CTV ad sales with the strong backing of the TV network/cable channel "linear TV" forces moving to establish their SVOD/AVOD services as well as the major ad agency media buying groups. In short order, the standard "currency" for AVOD/CTV will be panel-based average commercial minute ratings---or "impressions" if that is insisted on, though the meaning is exactly the same. Other sources will offer supplementary data---but not the basic buyng and selling "audience" findings that have for so long fueled ad sales for "lecagy TV". As for ad-free SVOD, Nielsen will also measure that---whether the services like it or not----and this will give program producers an objective view of how their shows are actually performing when renewal time comes around. Also every service subscriber will know how everyone else is doing---no more walled gardens.
IMHO, because DAR requires the content (i.e. the ad) to be tagged it is probably the best measurement of the delivery of the ad. It is not necessarily the impact of the ad because it measures that the ad was served but it still doesn't measure eyes-on. DAR was originally aimed at single-user devices (PCs, tablets, mobiles), but CTV tends to have more 'viewers per device so there is probably a counter-balancing under-reportting.
The great irony is that while TV ratings are better at measuring the programming than the ads, the inverse is probably true for DAR.