TV trade body the VAB is assembling players in the industry to form a task force dedicated to championing the evolution of video measurement. 

The ultimate goal is to create a unified approach and standards to TV measurement, which has been lacking amid the shift in viewing to streaming platforms. 

The Measurement Innovation Task Force will include leaders from existing industry initiatives, including the consortium OpenAP, NBCUniversal's new Measurement Innovation Forum and the Association of National Advertisers' Cross-Media Measurement initiative. 

“As each of these complementary initiatives explore, evaluate, and expand new measurement yardsticks, our new Task Force will provide regular feedback, questions, and perspective on behalf of every VAB member company,” says Sean Cunningham, president and CEO, VAB. The organization’s membership list is extensive and includes most major U.S. media giants including NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, Fox and Disney.

This task force, which the VAB says has been a year in the making, comes at a pivotal moment in TV measurement, as issues surrounding Nielsen's measurement system have opened the door for rivals to potentially gain ground in a long-monopolized space. 

Just last week, the Media Rating Council voted to suspend accreditation of Nielsen’s national and local TV measurement services, leaving the U.S. without any verified audience measurement firm once the temporary ban goes into effect later this month. This comes after the VAB helped lead the charge in fighting inaccuracies of Nielsen's measurement data that stemmed from undercounting viewers amid the pandemic. 

In the wake of these issues, NBCU issued a call for "measurement independence" and sough proposals from more than 70 measurement partners in an effort to establish more reliable and accurate measurement of TV and video audiences. 

“We’ve long advocated for a more open and accountable marketplace, built on a foundation of trust, transparency and shared values. These efforts include our most recent call to move toward metrics that tell the full story,” Kelly Abcarian, exec VP, measurement and impact, advertising and partnerships, NBCU, wrote in a blog post related to VAB's task force. 

Abcarian said NBCU and the VAB will look to understand the players in measurment and idenfity opportunities to create an interoperable ecosystem; evaluate existing initiatives to create and publish an industry-wide framework and best practices; and strategize how new measurement yardsticks can scale across the industry, incorporating shifting multicultural audiences, new streaming adoption and evaluating premium content.