“[Inclusivity] is one of the reasons why we’re looking at alternative currencies—iSpot and VideoAmp, in particular. In our early analysis of their sample sizes in their households, they have better representation of diverse audiences,” said David Campanelli, evp and chief investment officer at Horizon Media. Last year, the company announced it would transact on up to 15% of its upfront business using alternative currencies.

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: H&M shows off its spring/summer 2023 collection, including a women’s top that retails for $24.99. Scotts celebrates DayLawn Saving, its “biggest deal of the year” on lawn-care essentials. And Macy’s hypes its latest One Day Sale.

The new era of TV advertising looks likely to be measured by a multitude of providers, not just the historic single outfit.

In that kind of competitive landscape, how are any of the contenders – like iSpot.tv, VideoAmp and others – going to stand out?

The predominantly four-week national TV marketing campaign spent a modest estimated $2.9 million for some 1,754 airings -- pulling in 653.8 million impressions, according to iSpot.tv.

Last year’s awards generated 778 million TV ad impressions, per iSpot, with spots running at about $2 million each. Despite year-after-year ratings declines for the award show, it still ranks among the most-viewed non-sports TV broadcasts and is an important event for broadcaster ABC’s parent company Disney.

Total ABC estimated national TV advertising amounted to $106.1 million for 63 airings of Oscar TV commercials, per iSpot.tv. This pulled in 505.7 million impressions for viewers 18 years and older.

Top paid advertisers for the broadcast included Rolex, Verizon, Paxlovid, Paramount+, Volvo, Autodesk, Pfizer, Apretude and Snapchat, according to iSpot.tv.

The good news: According to a survey of 17,000 U.S. adults just conducted by PCH Consumer Insights and analyst Evan Shapiro (available for free here via TVRev), 44% of respondents have seen Top Gun: Maverick, one of this year's 10 contenders for the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences' top prize, the Oscar for Best Picture.

For its inaugural Music of Beer report, Songtradr did a deeper dive by analyzing content on such “sound-on” platforms as TV, radio, podcasts, YouTube and TikTok

The firm examined 241 music tracks by uploading them to its AI platform, which profiled them using some 300 variables across 28 categories—identifying elements including mood, music genre, personality and music quality.

With the breadth of reach to a large national college basketball audience, that also skews younger, it is no wonder advertisers see the March Madness as a great marketing opportunity. Data from iSpot.tv revealed that household TV ad impressions for last year’s tournament was estimated at 24.2 billion across CBS and WBD’s networks.

“The JIC requirements call for full transparency around data sets and methodology, and for all currency providers to seek Media Rating Council certification as well. Currently, Comscore has an application in process for its TV measurement and iSpot.tv for the ad recognition portion of its measurement. Nielsen, which is seeking to restore accreditation for its panel-based national TV ratings, has yet to file an application for Nielsen One Ads, which is based primarily on big data sets from set-top boxes and smart TVs.”

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: Pete Davidson says that with Smartwater Alkaline, he can “elevate how I hydrate.” Burger King promotes the limited-time return of its Bacon Melt, Spicy Melt and Classic Melt. And Duracell wants you to know that its lithium coin batteries have a bitter coating “to help discourage swallowing.”

For the second week in a row, Chevrolet takes first place on iSpot.tv’s most-seen auto ads ranking for Feb. 27 through Mar. 5. Its spot promoting Silverado models generated over 212 million TV ad impressions – a 20% increase from the previous week – while its estimated TV ad spend increased by 17% week-over-week.

iSpot, the real-time TV measurement company, and The CW – owned by Nexstar Media Group, America’s largest local television and media company with 200 broadcast stations in 116 markets – today announced that it would partner in order to measure cross-platform premium video campaigns and sponsorships associated with the 2023 LIV Golf Tournament across linear and digital properties.

That’s right. Kroger, the largest supermarket operator in the country, spent $2.5 million, per iSpot estimates, on an ad that emphasized the brand’s own private-label products, about a fifth of what Kroger spent nationally in 2022. “When you get proven quality at lower-than-low prices with Kroger brand products, it feels like you’re winning,” the ad’s voiceover said.

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: “Paid real consumers” (per the fine print on screen) offer testimonials about Verizon’s network reliability. ButcherBox wants you to know that it delivers grass-fed beef, wild-caught seafood and more. And Chuck E. Cheese says it’s a place “where a kid can be a kid.”

iSpot, the real-time TV measurement company, and The CW – owned by Nexstar Media Group, America’s largest local television and media company with 200 broadcast stations in 116 markets – today announced that it would partner in order to measure cross-platform premium video campaigns and sponsorships associated with the 2023 LIV Golf Tournament across linear and digital properties.

“As LIV Golf continues to, literally, change the game, so too is Nexstar Media Group, alongside The CW, revolutionising the way content and advertising is transacted upon. With an innovative approach to sponsorship opportunities for brands and advertisers, LIV Golf on the CW will be an immersive, omnichannel advertising opportunity in ways the industry really hasn’t seen before,”

But in an event where 127 different brands aired at least one national TV commercial during the live March Madness games last year, according to iSpot.tv, if someone wants to pull out, there are plenty of others to move in. And they have.

iSpot and The CW are partnering to measure cross-platform premium video campaigns and sponsorships associated with the 2023 LIV Golf Tournament across linear and digital properties. “With an innovative approach to sponsorship opportunities for brands and advertisers, LIV Golf on the CW will be an immersive, omnichannel advertising opportunity in ways the industry really hasn’t seen before,” said Michael Strober, EVP and Chief Revenue Officer, Nexstar Media Group. “With this unprecedented integration of experiential omnichannel activations across digital and linear, as well as traditional and offline channels, we needed a measurement provider who could keep pace with our innovative approach to consumer monetization.”

The hire comes as the rise of streaming television viewing facilitates increased competition between measurement providers including VideoAmp, iSpot.tv and Samba TV that position their products as a complement or alternative to those offered by Nielsen Holdings PLC, the longtime standard-bearer for traditional TV measurement.