As streaming video tightens its grip on the way consumers view and engage with content, advertisers need to find ways to effectively measure audiences in the new paradigm, while at the same time remain flexible in how they sell ads beyond traditional pods and shows, Group M executive director, U.S. investment strategy Adam Gerber said at the Advanced Advertising Summit, leading off NYC TV Week. 

Measurement has been a major concern for advertisers, networks and buyers for years as streaming has further fragmented viewership. Gerber, who kicked off his speech by comparing the current ad environment to the Doomsday Glacier — the massive sheet of arctic ice that is expected to play havoc with world sea levels — said fragmentation is much different today, promoting the need for the industry to work together to find effective solutions.

Also: More Coverage from the 10th Anniversary NYC TV Week

Gerber, in a fireside chat with B+C Multichannel News business editor Jon Lafayette, said that in the past, fragmentation meant more distribution choices — hundreds of cable channels versus four broadcasters — but could still be measured via passive panels. With impression-based advertising, measurement becomes dependent on publishers implementing tags or conducting server-to-server integration with measurement companies, which most publishers choose to avoid.  

Also: AVOD a Growing Part of Streaming: Nielsen 

“That’s the growing problem, as measurement is dependent on a publisher or a media company deploying either an SDK, server-to-server integration or a tag, as soon as one of the big ones decides not to participate in that, you don’t have a view of the marketplace,” Gerber said.

But the answer isn’t necessarily having a new measurement currency for the industry, Gerber said, adding that every advertiser will have a different way to evaluate the marketplace and do deals with publishers. Whether that is through attention metrics, audience based metrics or something else depends on the size of the advertiser. But he does believe that the industry needs a common way to size the overall market.

As streaming becomes more prevalent — Nielsen reported that streaming video share surpassed cable and broadcast for the first time ever during the month of July — Gerber said questions around ad capacity and valuation become more important. That gap could widen as Netflix and Disney Plus unveil the ad-supported versions of their respective services. Gerber said while streaming’s dominance may be a little questionable on the ad-supported side — he said about half of streaming subs are in non-ad-supported services — those that do air ads do so with less frequency. 

The typical linear network airs 16 minutes to 18 minutes of ads every hour, Gerber estimated. For streamers, that ad load drops to between three minutes and seven minutes each hour. That works out to a 60% decline in ad capacity, meaning that every streaming ad impression has to work harder. 

Also: What If They Launched an Ad-Supported Streaming Service and No One Came? 

The solution, he said, isn’t in returning to the old model — something that will never happen, he believes — but in finding new ways to squeeze money out of ad impressions.

“The challenge for streaming companies is to find the right balance,” Gerber said. “It might not be pods and shows. It might be much more tied to some of the things tied to the streaming space, things like voice navigation, things like commerce, things like sponsor-based models in delivery of programming. I think we have to have a creative renaissance in the streaming space to find new ways to engage consumers in ways that don’t tick them off. I think we’re just getting around to it.” ■

Advanced advertising technology is beginning to climb out of the experimental phase, GroupM chief investment officer Matt Sweeney said at the virtual B+C/Multichannel News Advanced Advertising Summit Tuesday, but there is still a way to go before the tech becomes mainstream.

“Many of the tools in the advanced TV space have matured to a point where we're comfortable going beyond just testing and leaning in,” Sweeney said. “...We're still evolving on the advanced TV side.”

Part of the difficulty is navigating the number of advanced ad platforms and providers, he said. 

Also Read: As Viewership Fragments, Engagement Is the Key

“We're trying to figure out how we navigate this holistically, versus buying addressable TV from one platform partner and data driven linear from a second platform partner and digital video from a large media company that also has their own platform,” Sweeney said. “That's the challenge right now and it's about the proliferation of platforms, the proliferation of data sets, and then some of the challenges around measurement. We need all this stuff to come together, like it has on the digital side with programmatic.”

Another challenge is being able to activate the technology in both linear and advanced TV environments simultaneously. That requires more effective measurement. 

“You’ve got to be able to measure the effectiveness, not just of traditional linear -- and those systems are fairly well known and well established -- but doing that along with some of the advanced TV investments that we're making across digital and data driven linear and streaming and connected TV,” Sweeney said. “That's the challenge right now. But we've got many progressive clients who understand that nothing is going to be 100% as the market evolves. But it has matured and we're going to lean more heavily into that in this year's upfront and beyond.”

Also Read: Spring TV Events Offer a Look at Future of Television 

While advanced advertising technology is one way for marketers to recapture some of the ad dollars lost as more and more television viewers switch from traditional linear programming to streaming and lower commercial loads, Sweeney said they should also look toward other ways of driving engagement with viewers. 

Sweeney estimated that a typical one hour linear program has about 16 minutes of commercials, which drops to about six minutes for a one-hour ad-supported streaming show. While advanced ad technologies are one way that programmers and marketers can backfill some of that lost commercial time, in reality it forces them to try to broaden their audience reach. 

“...Really what it does is it forces marketers and their media agent to look at expanding the audiences and the ability to find those audiences beyond just traditional TV and digital, streaming and addressable environments. We need to go beyond that,” Sweeney said. “We need to look at audio as a channel, as a way to engage with folks. And then there are a lot of digital platforms that have incredibly high engagement numbers with younger demographics. We're also excited about some of those partnerships and how they're evolving as well.”

Sweeney was optimistic about the upcoming upfronts, adding they will be “a cake walk” compared to last year. But with the economy improving and demand declining, there is the danger of price inflation, of which Sweeney and his clients are well aware. 

“Our clients want to know where the value is,” Sweeney said. “I think there's a point at which the value of a unit or an impression gets beyond an effective and efficient investment vehicle.”

That could be remedied at least in part by expanding the audience reach through audio, digital and other means. Sweeney said GroupM and its clients will still lean heavily into  digital, streaming and addressable inventory across several platforms, “but we also have to have some optionality beyond that because at some point the prices don't make sense potentially.” 

Well-known and well-regarded media analyst Brian Wieser is returning to his advertising roots as global president, business intelligence at ad powerhouse WPP’s Group M media buying unit.

Wieser, who spent the past eight years as senior analyst covering media and advertising companies for Pivotal Research Group, has a long history in the advertising business. Prior to Pivotal, he was EVP, global director of forecasting for Interpublic’s Magna Global and CMO for Simulmedia. He has also served as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers and research analyst at Deutsche Bank, covering entertainment and cable.

In his new role, which begins next week, he will report to Group M Global CEO Kelly Clark and will collaborate with GroupM’s agencies and WPP’s broader network to gather, analyze and distribute marketplace intelligence and give clients insights on markets, audiences, partners and platforms, and supply and demand dynamics.

“We are thrilled to welcome Brian to our team,” Clark said in a press release. “He has deep understanding of economic and industry dynamics, consumer behaviors, media partners, and technology platforms. He is uniquely suited to create insightful analysis that will help our clients make marketing investment decisions.”

“There is no better opportunity to help shape the future of marketing and advertising than this role with GroupM and WPP,” Wieser said in a press release. “The entire advertising industry is dealing with the consequences of technology-driven disruption, and every day the rules for how brands go to market are being rewritten. For nearly eight years at Pivotal, I’ve been connecting with every corner of the market to evaluate how the major players are leading - or reacting - to this change. I’m excited to use this experience and insight at GroupM and WPP to help clients grow.” 

Rentrak shares reached their all-time high Thursday after the company announced deals to buy its Kantar Media’s  U.S. TV measurement assets for $98 million in stock and an agreement with top tier media buyer Group M which will use its set-top box data for planning and buying ads.

Rentrak shares traded as high as $75.39 each early Thursday, up 17% ($10.88 each), before slipping slightly to finish the day at $72.07 each, up 12% or $7.56 per share. The stock beat its old high-water mark of $69 per share, soundly.

Rentrak’s gains came as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 300 points on Thursday.

In contrast, shares of TV measurement leader Nielsen dipped about 4% ($1.72 per share) on Oct. 9.

The Kantar Media deal, valued at about $98 million in Rentrak stock (12.4% of outstanding shares), will give the Portland, Ore.-based company a stronger presence in local and national TV measurement. In addition, Kantar and Group M parent WPP said it will purchase about $56 million worth of Rentrak shares, upping its stake to 16.7%. The media giant has agreed not to raise its interest in the company above 20%.

With Group M, Rentrak gains a client that makes about $105 billion in ad billings globally and one that shapes the relationship between TV networks and advertisers – it led the push for C-plus-3 ratings in 2007, now the industry standard.

In a research note to clients, Wunderlich Securities media analyst Matt Harrigan called the WPP deals “pivotal,” adding that with the ability to raise its interest in Rentrak as high as 20%, WPP is the “default likely winner in any eventual full acquisition of Rentrak. It also positions Rentrak as the only massive and passive (census) based provider in the U.S. market.”

Just hours before it was scheduled to ring the opening bell at the NASDAQ Exchange today, measurement company Rentrak rang a few bells of its own, announcing that it has acquired the U.S. Television measurement business from Kantar Media for $98 million in stock and signing an exclusive deal with ad buyer Group M to become the local currency for its TV clients.

Both deals help solidify Rentrak as a solid player in the TV measurement business, a segment that has grown exponentially for the company since CEO Bill Livek joined the Portland, Ore., firm in 2009. The news also comes as Rentrak prepares for its annual Investor Day at NASDAQ headquarters in New York, beginning at 1 pm.

The Kantar transaction will only include the company's U.S. TV measurement business. As part of the deal, Rentrak will also integrate its national and local TV measurement with a number of Kantar’s U.S.-based services that focus on digital media, advertising expenditure and purchase data. The integration will provide advertisers, agencies, TV networks, multichannel video program distributors (MVPDs) and local television stations throughout the U.S. with tools to understand consumers’ purchasing habits and the ability to link TV viewing habits with purchase and other behavior in the United States.

“The combined expertise of Kantar and Rentrak will enable clients to better comprehend and leverage the relationship between United States TV viewing and brands,” said Kantar CEO Eric Salama in a statement. “We are excited about the future products that we can develop with Rentrak for the U.S. television industry.  Clients will benefit from our focus on respondent-level media and purchase data.”

The deal terms involve about 1.53 million Rentrak shares, or 12.4% of Rentrak’s total shares outstanding.  As part of the agreement, Kantar parent WPP will also purchase shares directly from the company for $56 million in cash, giving WPP a final ownership stake of 16.7% of Rentrak’s stock. WPP may also purchase Rentrak shares on the open market so long as its total ownership of Rentrak stock does not exceed 20%.

“This agreement is designed to help all of our U.S. agency and TV advertiser clients with new services in television measurement and consumer insights,” said Rentrak’s Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Livek in a statement. “We are thrilled to be working with WPP and look forward to partnering with Kantar to provide the marketplace with the best next generation of services.”
Goldman, Sachs & Co. served as financial advisor to Rentrak.

With Group M, Rentrak adds its second top ad agency in a week -- it announced a deal with Zenith Media earlier -- to utilize its set-top box-based data.

GroupM manages $105 billion in media billings globally and serves as parent company to Mindshare, MEC, MediaCom and Maxus.  With this deal. Rentrak claims it has contracts with all of the largest agency holding companies.

“Rentrak is thrilled to work with GroupM and its agencies, and that they will use our services for the benefit of their clients,” Livek said in a statement. “This partnership will help our customers achieve maximum profitability.”

GroupM and its agencies will have full access to Rentrak’s TV viewing information and will, over time, use the data broadly. The agency will utilize the measurement company's advanced analytics in automotive and other categories on a local and national basis. On Demand and multi-platform data will be used to provide a more complete picture of television viewing patterns. In addition, Rentrak’s data will be used to quantify viewing levels in more than 200 networks that are not currently measured by the legacy sample currency, as well as in local markets.

“The proliferation of channels has so significantly fragmented audiences that legacy sample methodology simply can’t keep up,” said Irwin Gotlieb, global chairman of GroupM in a statement. “Television measurement needs to move toward census-based methodology. Our agencies are doing such refined targeting and segmentation, and that work can only be supported by census data. It is our hope that we can act as catalysts in moving the industry toward greater data reliability and accountability.”