Have we been wrong about the future of Nielsen alternatives to TV advertising currency?

The temporary loss of accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC) in 2021 created a huge opportunity for the incumbent’s competitors. Since Nielsen was criticized for undercounting TV viewership during the pandemic, these competitors have been battling to convince buyers and sellers alike to switch to alternatives.

And yet some industry insiders say alternative currencies were never intended to replace Nielsen. (This may be news to companies trying to poach Nielsen’s customers.)

Earlier this week, for example, media veteran Edward Papazian wrote on LinkedIn that, unlike Nielsen, alternative currencies were “never intended to be a standard to be used by all buyers and sellers” for all television advertising transactions.

“They are used – selectively – by some sellers as additional metrics in addition to the standard Nielsen ratings,” continued Papazian, president of Media Dynamics, Inc., a publishing and consulting company he founded in 1982.

His comment was in response to a LinkedIn post in which AdExchanger reported on recent coverage of iSpot receiving certification as a national currency from the joint industry committee supported by broadcasters and agencies.

Nielsen is the undisputed winner

But wait a minute, haven’t programmers been demanding independence from Nielsen’s measurement monopoly for years?

That is true, but alternative currencies do not seem to be gaining momentum yet.

And Papazian is not the only industry leader to emphasize this.

Most publishers and agencies have stuck with Nielsen panels, including during the pre-negotiations this summer, because they know Nielsen. Nielsen’s panel data has been underpinning TV advertising transactions for decades.

Buyers also don’t have enough confidence in the ability of other video currencies to adequately compare linear and streaming viewership. A key reason for this is that the digital walled gardens that capture so much viewing time – YouTube, Prime Video and Netflix – don’t share viewership data.

Additionally, Papazian noted in his op-ed, Nielsen is gradually integrating new data sets to stay competitive with its rivals. Nielsen’s measurement product combines panel data with the ratings data it receives from TV publishers and distributors like Comcast, Roku and Vizio, he wrote. This combined currency offering is part of Nielsen ONE, a new cross-platform product that goes beyond legacy panels.

Starting next month, the combined offer will be the Nielsen recommended currency, rather than the panel-only offer, according to an April update. (The combined offer is already in the market, but the Nielsen recommended currency is currently just the panel.)

And as for the reported conflicts between buyers and sellers over the currency, “there is no dispute,” Papazian writes. “It’s all decided.”

Papazian’s comment contradicts the numerous AdExchanger headlines heralding the impending launch of alternative currencies. But his argument may more accurately reflect reality – namely, that Nielsen will always play a fundamental role in TV advertising buying.

I guess it’s good to be a ratings titan.

The future of alternative currencies

However, this does not mean that other video currencies will become obsolete.

Newer currencies have developed a reputation for specialty areas that panel data alone cannot cover. Comscore, for example, boasts of its strength in the local space, VideoAmp has an advanced audience, and iSpot touts cross-screen attribution and demos.

For this reason, buyers and sellers selectively use alternative currencies to complement Nielsen.

Video currencies with different data and methodologies will produce different numbers. This variance explains why buyers and sellers can – and do – trade multiple currencies simultaneously to compare results and focus on the measurement provider that best fits specific campaign goals or KPIs. Buyers have a reason to spend more money on currencies that appear to produce the best results.

For example, if a buyer compares VideoAmp and Nielsen reports for similar campaigns and finds that VideoAmp is getting higher impression numbers for expanded audiences, they may decide to spend a higher percentage of their media budget on VideoAmp.

But Nielsen stays where it belongs.

In other words, alternative currencies will likely remain, at least for now, as add-ons to support specific campaign objectives.

I wonder: will alternative currencies ever become standard or are they doomed to remain mere sideshows on TV?

Tell me what you think. Write to me at (email protected).