Industry veteran Ben Tatta was named chief commercial officer of Operative.

Tatta was previously president of Standard Media Index, which was acquired earlier this month by GTCR, which installed Scott Knoll as CEO of SMI.

Before joining SMI, Tatta helped Kristin Dolan and Dolan Family Venture launch the measurement firm 605 in 2016.

Tatta earlier had spent 10 years with Cablevision Systems, rising to president of Cablevision Media Sales. He also held posts at USA Network, IBM and CapCities/ABC.

Operative also said that it hired Michael Grossi, who has run enterprise software companies as its new CEO.

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Former CEO Lorne Brown will remain a member of the board and focus on market development and investment strategy.

“I’ve been following Operative as a leading player in this industry for many years, with a renewed focus over the past few years as they continue to bring new transformational capabilities to market with their AOS platform,” Tatta said. “When Lorne and Michael approached me about leading Operative to the next level of scale and growth, it was not only a very logical fit based on my experience but also an exciting opportunity to help transform the way media companies do business.” ■

At a time when more ad dollars are shifting from traditional TV to digital video, research company Standard Media Index has developed a new metric that enables buyers and brands to better compare the costs of network and cable to over-the-top.

The new metric is effective cost per thousand viewers--eCPM. Brands buy television based on estimates of how many viewers they expect their commercials to reach. Sometimes campaigns exceed those forecasts, sometimes they fall short and, if there’s a guarantee, the brand gets makegood ads to cover the shortfall.

Read Also: Standard Media Index Names Dave Dembrowski VP Sales

Digital ads are sold based on impressions, and commercials stop being served exactly when the contracts number of impressions have been delivered.

To calculate its new metric, SMI takes its detailed TV unit pricing data and ratings from Nielsen to see how many viewers a campaign actually reached to calculate the real cost per thousand or eCPM. 

The buyers and sellers both can use eCPM to compare the cost of broadcast and digital within their campaigns.

“TV has always been a challenge because we haven’t been able to compare digital CPMs to TV’s gross ratings points," SMI president Ben Tatta told Broadcasting+Cable. "In the case of TV it’s really important to find an apples to apples way to understand the effective rate for a show, a network, a daypart.”

He said unless you have the kind of pricing data SMI gets from the buying agencies, including whether ads are bought in the upfront or in scatter or are paid or makegood units, getting accurate numbers is difficult.

“You can do the math for your own inventory, but we can provide that benchmarking capability,” Tatta said. That allows publishers to compare their rates to competitors,’ and for buyers to maximize the efficiency of their campaigns.

Tatta said the SMI is working with Nielsen to determine eCPMs for campaigns based on traditional demographic groups, such as women 18 to 49. It is working with another measurement company to determine the eCPMs of campaigns aimed at advanced audience segments, such as likely car buyers.

“This is all part of our new pricing intelligence suite, that include both digital CPMs, as well as linear eCPMs.

With linear ratings falling, eCPMs for traditional TV are often higher than the CPMs based on pre-campaign estimates.

For example, SMI said the eCPM for adults 18 to 49 in an NFL game is $108. A broadcast primetime show is $93 and tier one cable prime entertainment carries an eCPM of $42.

Tatta said the new eCPM metric can be using for planning and optimizing campaigns.

Though using eCPMs make TV appear more expensive relative to digital video, digital video prices are also high and there are many dayparts and networks where buyers can buy TV without a premium to digital.

“You’d be surprised. On TV, eCPMs really vary by daypart and if you move off prime, it’s really efficient,” Tatta said. Using eCPMs can help identify bargains.

“One of the first myths to bust is that TV is a lot more expensive,” he said.

Eventually both traditional TV and will be bought on an impression-based currency.

“We do think that it will evolve to an impression-based currency on TV. Over time, I think that’s inevitable,” Tatta said.

Ben Tatta, a veteran TV data executive, has joined ad intelligence company Standard Media Index as president, a new post, effective immediately.

Tatta, most recently president and co-founder of analytics company 605, will report to SMI Global CEO James Fennessy, who is looking to expand the business in the U.S.  

“We have established ourselves as the preeminent provider of high quality and timely ad intel and pricing data over the past ten years. As we expand into new verticals we were looking for a senior executive who is trusted and respected in the industry, by media buyers, sellers and the measurement community,” said Fennessy.

“Ben has the perfect mix of experience in Advanced TV and Digital media, and established connections within publishers, agencies, and technology partners. His unique skill set, combined with valued industry relationships, will help to propel the growth of the company through new and innovative partnerships,” Fennessy said. “Additionally, Ben has already been a major contributor to a suite of new products we will soon be deploying that will provide tremendous added value to current clients, while opening up opportunities for expansion into new market segments.”

Before 605, Tatta was president of Cablevision Media Sales, a pioneer in addressable advertising. Prior to Cablevision, he worked at USA Networks, IBM, ABC and Lagardere Media.

“I am thrilled to be joining James and the broader team at Standard Media Index during this exciting time of rapid growth for the company,” said Tatta. “As the industry transitions to a more transparent model, the availability of more granular and accurate media spend and cost data will be a vital component of ad intelligence for both brands and publishers. Standard Media Index has become the gold standard in the industry, and I look forward to further building on the world-class foundation the company has established through their ten years in the U.S. market.”