Other media companies are also striking measurement deals with VideoAmp, as well as others including iSpot and ComScore. Dentsu Intl. said in October, for example, that it plans to utilize technology from VideoAmp to guarantee audience buys across the media portfolios of seven different media companies.

Measurement-tech companies have attracted the interest of private-equity firms and Wall Street, with investors taking Nielsen private and building a position in iSpot. The scrutiny has also spurred mergers and acquisitions, with iSpot buying 605, a smaller analytics firm.

These companies have enlisted measurement-tech firms including Comscore, Videoamp and iSpot to provide new data streams that offer a look at audience size and behavior. The trouble? Few of these efforts have been validated by the MRC, though some of Comscore’s and iSpot’s work has been examined and is in the process of being audited.

The first services to carry Crunchyroll’s free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel are LG Channels, the Roku Channel and Vizio WatchFree+, launching on Oct. 11. Amazon’s Freevee is slated to launch the channel on Oct. 17. The channel is a joint collaboration between Crunchyroll and corporate cousin Game Show Network (GSN), which is part of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The MRC, an independent industry organization that scrutinizes various measurement methodologies, has accredited iSpot technology that identifies, verifies and tracks national TV ad occurrences across 178 linear and broadcast networks. The system was first introduced in 2012. The company has struck alliances with a number of media companies, including NBCUniversal. iSpot is also involved with a media-industry committee that is seeking to get new measurement technology accredited by MRC.

Bhatia had recently been deeply involved with a new committee backed by many of the biggest U.S. media companies that aims to gain industry certification of new types of audience-measuring technology. This committee, backed by Fox, NBCU, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global and TelevisaUnivsion. recently gave early nods to technology from Comscore, VideoAmp and iSpot, three start-ups that have worked in recent years to challenge Nielsen’s status as the media industry’s primary means of audience tabulation.

The U.S. Joint Industry Committee, a group backed by Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision, and Warner Bros. Discovery, has granted a conditional certification to audience-measurement technologies developed by Comscore, VideoAmp and iSpot, three start-ups that have worked in recent years to challenge Nielsen’s status as the media industry’s primary means of audience tabulation.

In today’s media world, where virtually every home in the U.S. has access to high-speed internet and every TV sold is “smart,” you can now click into hundreds of FAST channels without paying a monthly fee.

He has built an empire around his We the Best brand, scores six-figure fees for use of his songs, and over the years has had branding or endorsement deals with Mentos, Champs Sports, Apple Music, and others. He has appeared in spots for Geico, Doritos and TurboTax, among others. Per iSpot.TV, commercials featuring DJ Khaled have had 63,537 airings in the past 30 or so days.

The Independent Streaming Alliance officially formed on Friday, bringing together companies like Allen Media Group, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Cineverse, Future Today, FrndlyTV, kweliTV, Revry, Scripps, Tastemade, Trusted Media Brands and Vevo.

In recent months, NBCUniversal has struck an alliance with iSpotTV. Paramount Global has been working with VideoAmp, and Warner Bros. Discovery in March said it would work with Comscore and VideoAmp to develop a new system of exchange.

The Madison Avenue moves didn’t escape notice. For years, Carlson’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” has largely been supported by so-called “direct response” advertisers, which typically pay a lower price in exchange for allowing the network to place their commercials on an as-needed basis.

Vizio announced the launch of a branded content studio, which will make originals for Vizio’s WatchFree+ service. With Vizio launching a number of owned-and-operated FAST channels over the last year — examples include Fork & Flight, Black Brilliance and Vizio House — in-house branded content will have a ready-built destination for viewers.

No wonder the Newfronts presentations beginning in May have so many original-equipment manufacturers participating, including Vizio and LG. Even pay TV operators want a piece of this market, as Comcast is doing in Europe with Sky Glass.

Many of the companies have also struck partnerships with a new phalanx of measurement vendors including iSpot, VideoAmp and Comscore. Warner Bros Discovery said in March that it intended to use the two latter companies in helping it determine currencies in the 2023 upfront.

Warner Bros. Discovery is giving a league of would-be providers of TV-audience measurement its own appraisal.

The network, recently brought under control of Nexstar Media Group, will work with iSpot.TV, one of a handful of new providers of audience-measurement technologies, to measure the effectiveness of commercials attached to linear and digital broadcasts of tournaments backed by LIV Golf, the upstart league financed by Saudi Arabia. CW is to air 14 global LIV Golf League live events in 2023 and will stream the events live on its app. Weekend tournaments will air live on Saturdays and Sundays on the linear network, and stream online Fridays.

In recent months, a TV industry long measured by Nielsen has introduced a group of new vendors the networks hope will prove adept at counting digital and mobile viewing sessions. Advertisers seem willing to experiment with technologies provided by companies like iSpot, VideoAmp, ComScore and Samba. But some advertisers have balked at the prospect of having to do deals with one TV network based on one group of measurement offerings and transactions with a rival based on a different set of methodologies.

The bulk of advertising on the linear broadcast of “Night Court” has come from streamers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, auto marketers and restaurants, according to data from iSpot, an audience-measurement company. Many of the sponsors, which have in recent weeks included Pfizer, Subaru, Lexus, Home Depot and Procter & Gamble, have also bought ads for subsequent streaming sessions of the show on Peacock. NBCUniversal will also be making the point that it has, in recent months, snared rights for many of the shows that air on its TV networks to show up more quickly on Peacock, as opposed to Hulu, in which the company holds a minority stake.

Why is Vizio doing this? In the highly competitive HDTV market, every distinguishing feature can potentially influence a consumer’s purchase decision. VizioGram is a personal touch that will sit alongside popular streaming apps on Vizio’s SmartCast operating system, like Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max and Disney+.