JIC Issues Updated Measurement Provider Analysis
- by Wayne Friedman , July 10, 2025
OpenAP's U.S. joint industry committee (JIC), which is focused on new cross-platform media measurement standards for the TV industry, has offered a slightly mixed assessmentfor previous “certified” measurement providers -- Comscore, iSpot, and VideoAmp -- for the coming 2025-26 TV season.
The JIC notes that both Comscore and iSpot “provided thorough and clearly articulated answers across all question categories."
At the same time, VideoAmp “offered more limited detail in some responses, which reduced the audit team’s ability to fully evaluate certain areas of its methodology.”
Still, the JIC says all three providers showed improvements, meeting or exceeding JIC’s benchmark criteria.
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Comscore now has the stamp of approval for "personified demographics deal types.” It did not provide data on digital networks.
The group says iSpot now has “strong overall performance across all test areas and is positioned as a leader in measurement stability and completeness.”
While VideoAmp shows good execution and data accuracy, it “is encouraged to strengthen its transparency, formatting consistency, and support for granular audience analysis” in certain areas. It adds that VideoAmp did not provide data on African American or Hispanic audiences.
Peter Ligouri, executive chairman of VideoAmp, said the JIC is going in the right direction.
In an email message to Television News Daily, he said: “The JIC accreditation serves as a reminder that uncertain times require higher, not lower standards.” This comes, he said, among media executives’ continued concerns over rising data “volatility.”
Ligouri added: “The talk in Cannes [Lions] centered around the volatility of Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel that led to several Nielsen crisis meetings with the VAB, publishers, holding companies and the MRC [Media Rating Council] as upfront forecasts deals are facing challenges with the live data. As we understand it, no brand advertisers were invited to this discussion. Who does that serve?”
Overall, the JIC group says this current measurement assessment means “each provider can support the current demands of a multi-currency ecosystem.” It touts that ‘this process represents a new standard of transparency and rigor in video currency validation.”
The JIC group -- which started up in January 2023 -- consists of representatives from media agencies, premium video programmers, streaming platforms, and trade groups.
Ok, Tony, I'll defer to you on this one.Have at it.
Wayne: This OpenAP "Multi-Currency Certification Committee, M-CCC" initiative, owned by the networks, is unequivocally NOT a JIC and as Joe Mandese suggested has serious conflicts of interest which JICs avoid due to their structure, procedures and processes. Please read the White Paper I co-authored with John Grono on the "Ten Cornerstones of JICs/MOCs" published by Media Post with a subsequent updated version in ESOMAR's Research World. It was based on their evolution and cost effective success worldwide established over many many years, in many countries across all major media.
For you and Media Post to continue to formally "recognize" this shameful masquerade by OpenAP does not reflect the typical journalistic quality, honesty, anlaysis and truth your readers expect.
That this US industry TV/Video measurement farrago is being supported by the global media agencies, who know so much better and fully participate in REAL media JICs around the world, does them no credit. As such it points to Ed Papazian's position that the media agencies in the US market are beholden to the sellers. Advertisers, please take note!'
The global media research industry has long understood that certifications and/or audits (as technically and thoroughly executed by MRC) need to be executed to "Guidelines" not so called "Standards" which usually completely fail to meet the very definition and strict requirements of "Standards".
Media and Audience Measurement has come a very long way over the past many years notably in Europe. The US needs its leading trade media publication to encourage meanigful research quality, reliability and progress and call out the misguided shams!
BTW: "Currency" for any entity is singular! It avoids the chaos and disruptions of the "alt-currency" measurement scenario, "what metrics do you want, how much money do you have?" JICs provide each media in each country an industry agreed trading currency - singular! Buyers and sellers do use anciliary "alt" data to enhance The JIC Currency metrics as deemed meanigful for the brand campaign to help optimize potential outcomes.
Tony, a clarification about my position. I wouldn'rt say that the agencies are "beholden" to the sellers suggesting that they are making bad buys and not doing their clients justice just to appease the sellers. Not at all. However, it's pretty clear that in the absence of client involvement at the brand manager and CMO level, the agencies --who'se fees are constantly crunched by client bean counters make the best of a bad situation and work with the sellers for mutual benefit--client and seller benefit, that is. That means that when a seller has a problem--a sudden cancellation of lots of TV GRP time and a need to quickly monetize the now unsold time---the buyers will often be reasonable about the CPMs they are willing to pay while still getting a good discount for their clients.. It goes the other way, as well. When a client has a problem, the seller will often bend enough to help out. Again, a good example is a sudden need by the client to opt out of part of an upfront deal over and above what terms were contracted for.
In other words both sides understand the other's problems and work together to solve them, rather than the buyers always looking for the absolute lowest CPMs or other ways to screw the sellers.
I will add that in "TV" at least, the sellers are largely in control as they see all of the action and can plan their offerings accordingly. They also control the rating survices and the "JIC" --the latter in an effort to a) keep the pressure on Nielsen and b) to allow individual sellers add-on "alternative" metrics of their choosing as opportunistic sales promotion tools. In this regard the buyers, understanding the networks' problems and goals, go along with them as the buyers are still free to use or not use the "alternative currencies"--so their clients aren't injured by this refinement and, perhaps, are helped by it..