Comscore has gotten Media Rating Council accreditation for total household and average audience measurement in national and local TV, making it the first measurement company to get the approval for using “big data” measurement nationally on TV.

Comscore also is now the only measurement company currently accredited by the MRC for local TV measurement.

Industry heavyweight Nielsen’s local TV accreditation was suspended in 2021, and restoration of it remains under review, as does its application to incorporate big data from smart TVs and set-top boxes into its existing accredited measurement using a 41,000-plus household panel.

Accreditation by the U.S. ad industry’s official evaluator of measurement providers is important for building credibility with buyers. Lack of accreditation by Nielsen rivals was listed as one factor holding back broader industry adoption of new measurement currencies earlier this month in a report by the 4A’s Measurement Committee headlined “Not Ready for Primetime.” The Association of National Advertisers similarly has called for measurement firms to get MRC accredited.

Nielsen remains the predominant U.S. TV measurement provider, and its panel-based age-gender demos likely will be what most upfront deals will be traded on in the coming upfronts. But Nielsen’s own application to add big data measurement from millions of smart TVs and set-top boxes to shape measurement from its accredited national service and its panel of 41,000 remains under review.

Nielsen congratulated Comscore with a “welcome to the club” shout-out on X: “The more accredited data there is in the marketpace the better it is for everyone.”

Comscore CEO Jon Carpenter said he believes MRC accreditation can lead to more use of his company’s measurement as currency in the next upfront and beyond.

“We think this is a big milestone not just for Comscore but for the MRC and for the industry,” Carpenter said. “We’re essentially the first and only big data solution for linear TV for both national and local to get accreditation. We're the only linear TV measurement accredited for local TV, and the first alternative to the incumbent that's been accredited here, and we think that's a big deal.”

Marketers are moving away from gross rating points as a proxy for audiences and toward transacting on impressions and advanced audience segments, and this accreditation helps position Comscore to benefit from that trend, he said.

Comscore’s accreditation also marks the first time a TV measurement provider has been accredited for all 210 measured local markets.

This accreditation covers measurement at a household level combined with an estimate of total number of people watching. It doesn’t include an overlay of age/gender demographic data to households, something that was part of the application and audit but remains under review as Comscore answers questions, MRC CEO George Ivie said.

Comscore’s accredited methodology is different than Nielsen’s, which relies on household meters and panelists pushing buttons to indicate when they’re watching.

“I’m definitely not saying that this is lousy data because it’s not a panel,” Ivie said. “I want to be very clear that you can be accredited and not have a panel. This is more telling them that this household level data and average audience has passed our evaluation. It’s transparent. We’ve tested a lot of things, looked at empirical evidence around their methodology, and believe it’s fit for purpose.”

Meanwhile, the audit of Nielsen’s application to amend its existing accreditation by incorporating big data is complete, but Nielsen is in the process of answering MRC questions arising from the audit, Ivie said. He would like to see a decision made on Nielsen’s application by the fall, ideally as early as April or May.

“Nielsen is very focused on the addition of big data in national and local, and they’re doing everything they can to answer our questions,” Ivie said.

Nielsen’s application to restore accreditation of its panel-based ratings and to apply big data to local TV measurement also remain under review on separate tracks, Ivie said. The panel-based local measurement has been audited, but Nielsen is answering questions from the audit, he said. The addition of big data to local measurement is currently being audited, he added, though the two processes may ultimately be combined in a single application.

Another key Nielsen rival, VideoAmp, remains in “pre-audit” preparation for its TV measurement accreditation, but the audit could begin this spring, Ivie said. And ISpot.tv, has requested a proposal from the MRC for an audit of its TV audience measurement, which the group expects to deliver soon, he said.