Companies relying on big data -- including iSpot.tv, Comscore and VideoAmp -- are being tested and considered by several networks and media agencies.

'This technology is future proof'

TVSquared and Innovid haven’t figured as prominently as other Nielsen rivals such as Comscore, VideoAmp and iSpot.tv in recent trials of alternative deal currencies. But InnovidXP “extends beyond currency, encompassing the full breadth of cross-platform analytics,” including outcomes such as sales lift, according to Innovid's statement.

In February, ad verification firm DoubleVerify said that one in four top CTV “environments continued to play programming content — including recording ad impressions — after the television was turned off.” And this month WPP’s ad buying arm GroupM and measurement provider iSpot.tv published a study that found 17% of CTV ad impressions aired while a TV was turned off.

As Simulmedia CEO Dave Morgan explained to Digiday earlier this year for an article on the myths of CTV, the CTV viewability issue spawns from the TV not always signaling to a CTV device — such as a streaming dongle or gaming console — that the TV has been turned off. The GroupM-iSpot.tv study seemed to support that by reporting “virtually no incidence of overcounts” among native smart TV apps, i.e. apps running on a CTV platform that is built into the TV.

A billion-dollar bug. New research suggests one-in-six ads on a streaming service run when viewers’ televisions are turned off, an issue that could cost advertisers more than $1 billion annually, The Wall Street Journal reported. The analysis by ad-buying company GroupM and ad-measurement firm iSpot.tv looked at the financial fallout of streamed shows remaining on after customers turned off their televisions, a common occurrence for those who access streaming through a piece of hardware. The issue does not occur on smart televisions with built-in streaming apps.

The huge “Jurassic” franchise tops all theatrical movies in national TV advertising for the last two weeks -- earning 843.6 million impressions from 2,726 commercial airings, with an $6.5 million in estimated national TV spend, according to iSpot.tv

Disney Pixar’s upcoming animated “Lightyear” comes in next with 653.7 million impressions and 2,252 airings, and $7.2 million in estimated national TV advertising.

Universal Pictures continues to be busy in the next coming weeks, with two more summer releases “Minions: The Rise of Gru” (650 airings) and “The Black Phone” (577 airings).

Those TV commercials have resulted in 226.7 million and 168.4 million impressions, respectively. For “Minions,” estimated spend was at $3.9 million; “Black Phone” at $2.0 million.

“This approach to verifying CTV allows us to quantify a complex problem in a comprehensive way, yet more importantly provides insights and a pathway for solving an important issue for the industry,” said Sean Muller, CEO of iSpot.tv.

"Depending on the configuration among the three components -- TV make and model, streaming device and publisher app -- the CTV impression overcount by publisher ranged 2.5% to 15% across all CTV streaming activity," the study found.

iSpot has been among the audience-measurement firms vying as "alternate currencies" to Nielsen for the TV and so-called "cross-platform" ratings in this year's upfront advertising marketplace.

iSpot, which has even been independently "certified" as ad market currency by at least one big media company -- NBCUniversal -- currently is the only Nielsen alternative that has any MRC accreditation, though that is only for TV occurrence data, not for actual audience measurement.

The overcount results in about $1 billion in CTV ad waste, Stephens analyst Nicholas Zanger estimated.

The results of the study led GroupM to aim to create new standards for streaming viewability and CTV measurement, and iSpot has developed a product called iSpotCTV Verification, which measures continuous play at the campaign level. GroupM will have exclusive access to the product when it completes testing and development.

Some 17% of ads shown on televisions connected through a streaming device—including streaming boxes, dongles, sticks and gaming consoles—are playing while the TV is off, according to a study by WPP PLC’s ad-buying giant GroupM and ad-measurement firm iSpot.tv Inc

Best budget: Vizio D-SeriesWhy it made the cut: An all-around solid 32-inch TV for the price, featuring Vizio’s SmartCast technology that allows for streaming without any additional hardware needed and a bright backlit LED display.

Sports wagering national advertising nearly quadrupled for the nine months ending May 31, soaring 281% to $282 million over that period, according to iSpot.tv.
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Not surprisingly, the NFL — the most popular sports league in the US — led the way in total sports betting ad impressions. After sportsbook operators plunked down $21.4 million in week 1 ads, spots run during that league’s broadcasts commanded 42.5% of betting ad impressions, notes iSpot.tv. The NBA was net at 7.9% followed by Major League Baseball at 5%. College football, the NHL, and the PGA Tour combined for 5.8%.
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“As one example, FanDuel more than tripled national TV ad spend year-over-year, emphasizing the NFL, NBA, college football and MLB for its ad buys. The brand accounted for nearly 34% of sportsbook ad impressions on national TV from Sept. 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022, which led the way for the industry,” notes iSpot.tv.
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“While FanDuel led the way by impressions, its TV ad creatives were focused on factual spots, versus the more humorous approach of competitors like Caesars,” says iSpot.tv.

In terms of TV brands, when smart TV households were asked what brand they own, 41% said Samsung, while Vizio was second with 19%, followed by LG (18%), TCL (11%), and Sony (10%).

​​Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only.

The NBA Finals scored the most TV ad impressions on the week, with 2.23 billion — 5.3% of the total. Those impressions are up nearly 40% year-over-year compared to the first two games of last year’s Finals, which took place in early July.

It's great that we’re now seeing companies like iSpotTV, VIZIO and Samsung bring massive directly measured panels to a market that previously only had Nielsen’s highly curated but relatively small panel.

Epsilon is expanding its relationship with iSpot.tv, the real-time TV measurement company, to supercharge Epsilon’s connected TV (CTV) measurement and reporting capabilities available through Epsilon PeopleCloud. The measurement integration allows marketers to assess the incremental reach of their CTV campaigns over linear TV by tapping into Epsilon’s privacy-protected CORE ID now coupled with iSpot’s industry leading Unified Measurement capabilities.

iSpot, which utilises Epsilon to help inform audience personas and segment-based measurement on its platform, is now the default measurement option for verifying incremental reach campaigns using Epsilon’s CTV platform delivery over linear.

“Samsung, Vizio and Roku need to come to the table,” Eng said. While these companies are IAB members that participate in working groups, they’re reluctant to share first-party data outside their own systems.

Among surveyed Internet adults owning a smart TV, 41 per cent reported owning at least one Samsung Electronics smart TV. Vizio and LG Electronics were distant competitors, with 19 per cent and 18 per cent of US smart TV households owning these brands, respectively.

If trends continue, Wells Fargo analysts see pressure on the advertising revenue of connected television providers such as Roku and Vizio Holding Corp., as well as advertising-based streaming services such as Paramount’s Pluto and Fox’s Tubi.

​​Vizio said that the original 10-part series @Home with Tori starring Tori Spelling launched Thursday exclusively on its WatchFree Plus streaming services.

The series features branded content integrations from sponsors including Mattel, Hilton and Party City. Other sponsorship opportunities include co-branded home screen promotions and episodic title sponsorships.

Joe Marino, head of client success organization at MadHive, said local is not a very sexy category, but it’s getting there. As connected TV gets larger, “it’s pushing local five years into the future faster,” he said. “I do think CTV has expedited the local markets’ adoption of digital.” Midterm political spending should expedite things as well. “There’s going to be a lot of inventory missing in the linear world in a few months,” said Gaynor. “CTV offers an opportunity for political money coming in.”