Horizon reaches currency deal with Nielsen rival VideoAmp

Horizon Media will use VideoAmp as a currency for the coming upfront season, the measurement company announced today. And Horizon believes more trading will actually take place on VideoAmp and other new currencies this year, after being disappointed in how much was transacted on them last year, said David Campanelli, the agency’s chief investment officer. Media measurement blog Tracking TV, social and digital updates Click here Horizon, which ranked as the largest U.S. media agency last year, according to the Ad Age Datacenter, was out front of its agency peers last year by projecting that up to 15% of its upfront deals would be on new, non-Nielsen currencies. That didn’t happen, Campanelli said. People familiar with the marketplace said total dollar volume on new currencies last year was likely in the low nine figures in what is estimated to be a $65 billion TV ad market. “We were quite honestly disappointed in how little traction there was in the discussions around alternative currencies,” Campanelli said. “That’s why we established this partnership so we can have more access to the data on our end versus just relying on partners.” Fuller access to VideoAmp’s data will help Horizon make the case with clients to use it, he said. “I would say there’s a significant amount of interest and openness, depending on the partner and the types of guarantees.” “Once we walk them [clients] through our thinking, we’ve had very little resistance,” he said. “All of them understand that this is going to get us better measurement of general audiences, and long term better at measuring business results.” Campanelli expects more of the alternative currency guarantees to happen on advanced audiences vs. standard 18-49 demographics. But he noted that some sellers, such as Warner Bros. Discovery, have signaled a willingness to do demographic guarantees on alternative currencies, too. “And we’ll definitely do those,” he said. Even as deals based on custom audiences or outcomes take place, Campanelli said it’s also important “to make sure we’re getting the basic demo level counting correct, and basic household level accounting first, which makes advanced targets more reliable as well.” That’s not just an issue for newer measurement providers, he said. “Two weeks ago, Nielsen had a release that they got the Super Bowl wrong,” he said. “If they didn’t get the Super Bowl right, how do you get the overnight ratings on a small cable network right, and what’s the reliability?” Related: Nielsen miscounts Super Bowl audience Like Campanelli, VideoAmp President Michael Parkes didn’t make an overall or dollar volume prediction for how much of the upfront market will move on new currencies this year. Upfronts and NewFronts blog Tracking the latest TV and digital ad pitches Read more here

Horizon reaches currency deal with Nielsen rival VideoAmp

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