TVision, a company measuring TV and CTV viewer engagement, has closed an investment round of $16 million (€15.3m) for the continued transformation and modernisation of accurate, person-level panel measurement. The round was led by a strategic investment from iSpot, the real-time TV measurement company and new currency provider, along with continued support from SIG Capital, Accomplice and Golden Ventures.

Look no further than Tuesday’s announcement that measurement provider iSpot.tv will incorporate Tvision’s panel-based measurements as part of the latter’s $16 million funding round led by the former.

TVision, a startup providing a proprietary person-level panel data for audience viewership, has nabbed a $16 million strategic investment led by iSpot, which aims to usher in a holistic view for ratings and measurement across the linear and CTV landscape.

Brands including Arby's, Burger King, McDonald's and Panera Bread are still spending millions of dollars advertising chicken sandwiches, according to estimated national TV ad data from iSpot. Arby's upped its spend from $1 million last year to $11.3 million this year to date, while Panera Bread has increased spending from $4.3 million to $25.5 million in the same period. Panera’s newly launched chicken sandwiches have become its most popular sandwich item, according to CEO Niren Chaudhary, cited in the Wall Street Journal in August.

This activity is a result of a number of start-ups and other underdogs trying to be more competitive with Nielsen. Since the company’s recent privatization, it has been operating without industry accreditation for both its local and national TV ratings. This leaves others with no options but to compete. Nielsen’s ratings remain the bedrock of most deals between TV networks and advertisers, but many of the traditional media companies have started to offer new kinds of measurement pacts using companies including iSpot, VideoAmp and Comscore,

A company that seeks to thrive by “measuring every second of TV and Connected TV viewer engagement” has closed an investment round in the millions of dollars. The strategic investment round is designed to accelerate person-level panel measurement for streaming, a move that TVision says advances the standards for unified ratings across linear and Connected TV for the company.

Growing TV measurement company Tvision disclosed it has closed a $16 million investment round led by iSpot.tv, the TV research and measurement data company. TVision says the investment will accelerate person-level measurement for streaming and advance standards for unified ratings data across linear and connected TV (CTV).

TVision has raised $16 million in funding, led by TV adtech firm iSpot. The firm is working on ways to track how many people in a room saw a TV ad. TVision will use the money to build products pitched at advertisers.

The big picture: Nielsen has been on a rocky path as it struggled to adapt to the collapse of linear TV viewing and rise of streaming. The Media Rating Council suspended Nielsen's ratings accreditation last year following an audit, creating yet another chance for rivals to swoop in.

iSpot has a client base consisting of hundreds of brands and all major TV networks including NBCUniversal. Earlier this year NBCUniversal used iSpot for an ad measurement and as a currency test for such high-profile television events as the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics. In March NBCUniversal announced they would be using iSpot’s cross-platform audience measurement as their “official currency for the 2022-23 upfronts”. In June NBCUniversal announced 40% of their nearly completed upfront negotiations had used measurement guarantees beyond traditional age and gender.

iSpot, a media measurement company vying to win clients amid recent pushback against rival Nielsen. has led an investment round in TVision,a company that aims to provide second-by-second analysis of how people watch TV.

Together, iSpot and TVision will start applying that approach to CTV co-viewing, and iSpot’s investment gives it some exclusive access to TVision’s data. Person-level measurement is especially lacking in CTV, Muller said.

“We’re super bullish on the technology they’ve developed for enhanced, passive metering of people,” Muller said. “It’s an important part of future currency. That was really what drove this investment.” The closer relationship between TVision and iSpot won't preclude VideoAmp or others from using the Nielsen alternative for their own measurement, Muller said, adding that he supports development of an alternative industry panel.

iSpot, which has built its TV measurement business on big data, has bought a stake in TVision as part of a $16 million funding round, and will get exclusive access to person-level data on connected TV viewing from TVision's audience panels.

"We also wanted to invest in panel technology, which we believe continues to be important for the industry," Muller said. "We are a huge believer in big data as the front line of measurement and that continues to be the case. But we also believe in being able to get to the person level in the household to supplement that measurement.”

A few highlights: The Backstreet Boys help Downy promote the launch of Downy Rinse & Refresh. (Ad Age’s Jack Neff has the backstory on the campaign: “Downy turns to the Backstreet Boys in first work from Saatchi.”) Glade hypes its limited-edition Pine Wonderland fragrance. And Etsy salutes new parents in a spot with the endline, “Giving is never small when a gift says so much.”

Cross-platform audience measurement company iSpot.tv has made a strategic investment in television and CTV viewer engagement specialist TVision, as part of a $16m round.
TVision provides second-by-second, person-level data about viewing of both linear and streaming TV, including who's watching, what they're watching, and how much attention they are paying. The firm is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Boston and Tokyo.

TVision, the company measuring every second of TV and CTV viewer engagement, today announced it closed an investment round of $16mm for the continued transformation and modernization of accurate, person-level panel measurement. The round was led by a strategic investment from iSpot, the real-time TV measurement company and new currency provider, along with continued support from SIG Capital, Accomplice, and Golden Ventures.

iSpot is one of those vendors, and just today announced leading a $16 million investment round in startup TVision, the latter which developed its own person-level panel that measures co-viewing across linear and CTV.

Every weekday we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. (Scroll down to watch them all.) A few highlights: Luke Bryan hypes Jockey Outdoors, his collaboration with the apparel brand. Sheertex says its “alarmingly strong tights” have, in fact, been tested on animals. And Amazon promotes Amazon Halo, its wearable health tracker, in a spot that reimagines a stressful family gathering as “Home for the Holidays: The Game.”