Firm data is hard to come by, but iSpotTV numbers showed a ~50% bump in national TV ad impressions for sportsbooks in NFL Week 18, compared to Week 17.

That jump might have been driven by New York, though iSpot’s John Casillo warned it could stem from increased viewership around the final week of the regular season.

In New York specifically, FanDuel accounted for 34% of TV ad impressions in the first nine days of January. That was slightly ahead of Caesars (29%) and DraftKings (27%.)

“This is not a shift away from one panel-based system to another, but a definitive step toward embracing the metrics brands already use to evaluate media companies,” said Kelly Abcarian, executive vice-president of measurement & impact at NBCUniversal Advertising and Partnerships.

“We have an obligation to deliver consumers a great experience and an obligation to our customers and shareholders to utilise measurement systems that adequately capture the reach, attention, and outcomes we deliver.

The Times report states that this is more than just a bluff, as NBCU is hoping a successful test leads to switching to iSpot.tv’s data going forward. That would certainly mark a major shift, and it’s all tied back to NBC and other networks being dissatisfied with how Nielsen calculates non-traditional viewing. Considering that’s a growing portion of viewership, especially in key demographics, and that it’s only going to be more important going forward.

NBCUniversal is moving forward with its plans to expand its measurement partnerships, announcing a multi-year deal with iSpot.tv that will see the measurement company become one of its preferred partners for quantifying and unifying cross-screen media consumption, reach and impressions. iSpot.tv’s ability to support NBCU’s audience verification initiatives will be put to the test in what the company called a “massive pilot” to include both the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and Super Bowl LVI. iSpot.tv, which touts the ability to provide second-by-second measurement of ads and verified impressions for programming and advertising, will be expected to deliver metrics that can be used as an alternative currency among buyers and sellers.

NBCUniversal has named iSpot.tv a preferred measurement partner in a multiyear pact that touches across its One Platform portfolio, according to an announcement.

The media giant will enact a "massive pilot" of iSpot.tv's audience verification tools for ad campaigns and program ratings around upcoming broadcasts of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and Super Bowl LVI. Agency partner Publicis Media is the first media holding company to test the new measurement suite.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) says that the median age that polar bears survive in AZA-accredited zoos is 23.4 years. Due to environmental threats and disease polar bears live an average of 15-18 years in the wild, according to the zoo’s conservation partner Polar Bears International.

The Kansas City Zoo will make its annual contribution from the Zoo’s Conservation Fund to Polar Bears International in memory of Berlin.

“Bears are fascinating,” says B.J. Kirschhoffer, director of conservation technology at Polar Bears International. “For me, when standing on a prominent point overlooking sea ice, I want to know how any animal can make a living in that environment. I am curious about everything that makes them able to grow to be the biggest bear by living in one of the harshest places on this planet. There is still so much to learn about the species—how they use energy, how they navigate their world and how they are responding to a rapidly changing environment.”

The other option draws inspiration from the process hair stylists use to attach hair extensions to their human clients’ heads. This pentagonal design involves extending a loop of a fishing leader down through five metal ferrules, or tubes; lassoing some hair on a sedated polar bear; and pulling it back through. Scientists can then use pliers to squeeze and crimp the hair in place.

Chevrolet’s “Adventure Is Everywhere” ad highlighting multiple Silverado models racked up over 196.8 million TV ad impressions per iSpot.tv, making it the single most-seen automotive spot during the week of Jan. 2-8. A quarter of those impressions came from NFL games, while The Big Bang Theory, The Kelly Clarkson Show and Jeopardy! each delivered about 7 million TV ad impressions. iSpot’s Creative Assessment survey data showed the ad had 90% brand recognition (the percentage of survey respondents who remembered it was a Chevrolet ad after watching it), above the automaker industry norm of 80%.

The real impetus for this much-needed development however, can be found in these two quotes.The first is from Paramount Global President John Halley via Adweek: “If there’s a narrative that we want to unwind, it’s that NBC is an iSpot shop and Paramount’s a VideoAmp shop. We’re both working towards enabling both of those things in addition to Comscore and Nielsen One.”

Conversely, new premium streaming channels have been getting ample brand exposure on their sister traditional TV networks.

For instance, NBCUniversal’s Peacock TV received $193.6 million in national TV brand media value (exposure on NBCU networks) over the last 12 months from on-air promo advertising, according to iSpot.tv -- all while Peacock spent $26.6 million on paid advertising during that period.

Samba, along with companies like iSpot and VideoAmp, is looking to take share from Nielsen, especially given the mounting need for clarity about viewership of programming and advertising in the streaming era. Traditional metrics from the linear era, while never supremely reliable, at least functioned as a universal standard for the industry. In the streaming era, there is much less universally accepted data in circulation.

Music supervisors and labels use Songtradr’s music-tracking platform, Tunefind, to research sync placements in movies and TV series.

It probably helps that Pharrell frequently partakes in good deeds. Right before the end of last year, the artist’s label teamed up with MINI USA to release an exclusive merch collection featuring a variety of Icecream products. 100 percent of the proceeds went toward Polar Bears International, the non-profit polar bear conservation organization.

Whalar, the creator economy, empowering users with the same type of measurement they use for paid media, but now for creator marketing. The launch is in collaboration with platforms like Element Human, GWI, NetBase Quid, Nielsen, Tubular Labs and VidMob.

While more streaming platforms are moving into the ad-supported space (including Disney+ and Netflix), FASTs are completely free services that can offer either or both live linear channels and ad-supported on-demand content. Players in the FAST space include media-owned FASTs such as Fox’s Tubi, Paramount’s Pluto TV, NBCUniversal’s Peacock (free version), and Comcast and Charter’s Xumo, as well as TV interface providers including Samsung TV Plus, Vizio WatchFree+, LG Channels, and aggregators such as The Roku Channel, and Amazon’s Freevee, as well as independent publisher like Crackle Plus.

But Wait, There’s More!

FAST channels are the new cable. [TV Rev]

The FASTs Are The New Cable, Part 2: Advertising study was based on conversations between TVREV and dozens of key executives in the media industry and the analyst noted that one of the more universal comments it heard was a fear that dollars would not follow eyeballs, given how difficult it was to buy advertising on streaming, or to buy advertising on streaming across multiple platforms.

You’re Hired!

MadHive hires Kristin Wnuk as SVP of sales.

With new technology and government regulations disrupting the old ways of collecting consumer data, marketers are in need of new ways to efficiently reach and consistently engage customers at scale.

Relationship marketing offers opportunities to drive revenue, create personalized experiences, and deliver a unique value exchange across the entire customer lifecycle. Here’s how four companies have recently implemented this strategy in each of the four stages:

Unlike mobile, where audiences are conveniently split between Android and iOS, people have all sorts of CTV platforms in their households. On top of that, CTV devices are often used by multiple people, complicating the process of targeting, frequency capping and measurement.

This complexity can lead to accidents. Take the recent case where GroupM and iSpot reported a $1 billion loss of ad money because the devices serving the ads were switched off. In this case, neither the apps nor the streaming devices could have known whether the smart TVs were on or off.