Just last week, for example, the broadcaster-backed joint industry committee (JIC), which was formed in January to spur the creation of a cross-platform TV measurement standard, granted conditional certification to Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp for audience measurement.

TV measurement currencies are beginning the next lap in their race to replace Nielsen: certification. On Wednesday, the broadcaster-backed joint industry committee (JIC) granted “conditional certification” to Comscore, VideoAmp and iSpot.

MediaMath’s bankruptcy filing includes a list of the 30 creditors with the largest unsecured claims against the company. Unsurprisingly, Magnite and PubMatic are at the top.These are the ad tech providers owed more than $1 million:

Sam’s Club tracked engagement, likability, audience sentiment, shares and views, working with TV ad measurement and analytics company iSpot.tv to see how the holiday spot performed in comparison to broadcast TV spots from other retailers.

TV manufacturer Vizio, for example, sits on a big pile of ACR from its data subsidiary Inscape and is investing in machine learning to get viewers (and advertisers) to stick around. The company will prioritize AI to boost content customization, said Travis Hockersmith, group VP of Vizio’s platform business, also speaking at Prog IO.

Speaking of TV, alternative currencies to Nielsen aren’t done competing for advertiser attention.On Tuesday, iSpot announced an integration with Google’s Ads Data Hub clean room, which should give advertisers better measurement on YouTube buys.

On Monday, Amazon announced that advertisers can now use iSpot and VideoAmp to measure cross-screen impressions and reach, including for out-of-home campaigns and local television stations.

As of Fall 2022, a report from TVREV showed the proliferation of FAST channels over the past five years includes the 60 million viewers using offerings built into TV operating systems (e.g., Samsung TV), 50 million using device-based offerings like the Roku Channel, and the 30 million-and-quickly-growing using apps like Paramount’s Pluto and Amazon’s Freevee.

For decades, Nielsen was the only TV currency, and it kept its spot despite the birth of new TV measurement companies over the past decade or so, including VideoAmp, iSpot and Samba.

Just like other TV measurement vendors, including iSpot and VideoAmp, Nielsen licenses ACR data from Inscape, Vizio’s data subsidiary.

But Nielsen stands out in that it also gets ACR from Roku.

Buyers urgently need reliable and standardized TV measurement. That need is why video currencies building alternatives to Nielsen are using ACR to assert their place in the measurement race.

While the war for measurement superiority marches on, resonance measurement can be integrated with traditional reach measurement from any of the major providers, from iSpot and VideoAmp to Nielsen. There’s no conflict between these tools. In fact, adding resonance to existing reach systems can provide a powerful new “resonance reach” score to understand audience size and advertising impact.

Streamers either promote their own titles or pay app distributors like Roku or Vizio to sponsor content for them. Neither strategy is an example of heating, whereby platforms boost content they don’t own without telling anyone. (Heated content is not labeled as sponsored, nor as an ad.)

Legacy ratings provider Nielsen reported that 113 million people watched at least part of the Super Bowl, including household and out-of-home viewing, while iSpot claimed an average audience of 132.6 million, 17% higher than Nielsen.

Some context: iSpot has benefited perhaps more than anyone from broadcasters looking for alternatives to Nielsen. Last year, NBCUniversal chose iSpot as its measurement partner after an extensive search for a not-Nielsen currency. ISpot has consistently clocked superior ratings for other TV tentpole events.

Team Whistle also licenses its OTT channel, which features social video and original content, to a number of streaming platforms, including Roku, Android TV, Amazon Fire, Samsung TV Plus, Vizio WatchFree+, Plex, DistroTV, Rad, Local Now, Stremium, Sports.TV and Whistle TV. In return, it either receives a portion of the ad revenue or controls a portion of the ad load and monetizes it programmatically.

What started as an app for teens and young adults became more mainstream among older adults, especially during the pandemic. The company is also attracting a broader following by inking deals with TV manufacturers – including Vizio, Samsung and LG – and streaming services Android TV and Amazon’s Fire TV.

But Wait, There’s More!

FAST channels are the new cable. [TV Rev]

You’re Hired!

MadHive hires Kristin Wnuk as SVP of sales.

NBCUniversal has a similar partner setup for advanced audience guarantees, but it counts VideoAmp, iSpot.tv and Comscore among its partners.

Every manner of deal went down in March:iSpot/Tunity