Paramount to Transact Ads Based on iSpot Data

Media and streaming group Paramount Global has announced a deal with TV audience measurement company iSpot.tv, whose Unified Measurement service will serve as an ad buying currency for the broadcaster's linear and streaming TV in the US.

Measurement and trading on iSpot's data is set to commence in the first quarter of 2024. Technology integrations are being completed at present, to allow seamless ad buying transactions within the broadcaster's proprietary and licensed systems. Paramount says it is committed to working with companies bringing more sophisticated approaches to measurement, and to a multi-currency future.

John Halley, President of Paramount Advertising, says his company has 'taken the lead in accelerating new measurement and currency enablement because the future of our industry depends on it'. He adds: 'We are committed to supporting all new currency providers certified by the US Joint Industry Committee, and we look forward to bringing greater transparency and flexibility to the way TV is transacted and measured. Our partnership with iSpot helps facilitate that goal'.

Sean Muller, iSpot CEO and founder (pictured), comments: 'To its credit, Paramount has long been among the leaders of the marketplace with its investment in infrastructure, its willingness to transact on advanced audiences, and its embrace of new forms of measurement that better quantify the effectiveness of advertising'.

iSpot, in which investment bank Goldman Sachs acquired a $325m minority stake eighteen months ago, says Paramount 'will now be able to offer their own customers greater transparency and choice in campaign activation and evaluation by leveraging our leading measurement data as well as our cross-screen capabilities'.

A number of 'alternative' ad currencies and initiatives have emerged in the last two years to challenge Nielsen's stronghold on the US market. In January 2022 WarnerMedia selected iSpot alongside Comscore and VideoAmp as measurement partners, tasked with building a new suite of technologies to count viewers across linear, digital and connected television. Last month cross-media measurement initiative the US Joint Industry Committee (JIC) announced that following a 'rigorous RFI scoring process' it had granted conditional certification to the same three suppliers. Nielsen said in April it would not be participating in the 'JIC' unless it addressed concerns in areas including methodology, missing platforms, Nielsen IP, and the JIC's relationship to the MRC.

Web site: www.ispot.tv ,