'JIC' Certification for Comscore and VideoAmp

In the US, the 'Joint Industry Committee' (JIC) formed in January 2023 to provide more rapid accreditation of ad currency providers than the MRC has awarded full certification to Comscore and VideoAmp, but delayed a final decision on iSpot until June.

The 'JIC' was created as a collaborative forum for media buyers and video suppliers to work together to define 'a more sustainable model for long-form video measurement'. The process was led by US media ratings consortium OpenAP and TV ad trade group the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), working with a group of TV broadcasters. Nielsen announced in April last year that it would not be participating in the process, citing concerns in areas including methodology, missing platforms, Nielsen IP, and the body's relationship to the MRC. The relationship question was addressed last week by a joint statement clarifying the distinct roles and approaches of the two organisations.

Following a 'rigorous data evaluation', the 'JIC' now says Comscore and VideoAmp have been certified for transactability as national currencies. A proposal by the group's Measurement Subcommittee was carried by a 'majority vote', granting overall certification to the two firms. The award means the Committee is assured that Comscore and VideoAmp's data sets are accurate and nationally representative, and will allow them access to a streaming data set featuring audience data from participating programmers and agencies, when it launches next year.

iSpot will maintain its conditional certification for the moment, with a final decision on upgrading it expected to be made in the next certification window, scheduled for June 2024. A spokesperson for iSpot told news publication AdExchanger that the company had not been rejected but had decided itself to delay and apply for full certification in June - this will allow it time to advance the integration of TV measurement and attribution company 605, acquired in September.

For the assessment, each company was evaluated 'on the overall basis of transactability', then further analyzed across Total Households, Audiences and Personified Demo use cases. Comscore and VideoAmp were found to be transactable across traditional metrics (ACM/AMA) and for some cross-platform measures - however the Committee acknowledges that Cross-Platform Transactability is less well advanced, and it is 'focused on assessing readiness of transitioning towards' this, in particular looking for improvements in the provision of personified reach metrics. The 'JIC' says that 'as of now, no measurement company is certified for transacting cross-platform demos'.

The body says its recommendations are intended to give the industry 'a baseline standard for transactability', on top of which currencies and deals must be determined in specific negotiations between buyers and sellers of media. Certification lasts two years - in this case the calendar years 2024 and 2025, with a mid-term audit to pick up any changes in methodology - this will take place in November of each year, while full certification procedures for new companies and those wishing to reapply will take place in June each year.

Travis Scoles (pictured), SVP of Advanced Advertising at Paramount Global and Chairman of the JIC's Board of Directors, says of today's news: 'While the currencies and resulting deal structures are decided solely between buyers and sellers, we cannot drive lasting transformation of the industry individually - we need consensus, compromise, and a shared understanding across all parties to move this industry forward. The collaboration over the last year to bring buyers and sellers to the same table to work in partnership with the measurement companies, who have dedicated an incredible amount of time, energy and resources to this process, is a testament to this industry's dedication to progress as we build a more sustainable measurement ecosystem for the future. We applaud the work of all measurement companies and encourage continued innovation as we scale'. Steve Bagdasarian, Chief Commercial Officer of Comscore, describes the move as 'a significant milestone in the landscape of media measurement', heralding 'a new era of accuracy and reliability in television and digital currency metrics'. Comscore was accredited last month by the MRC for both its National and Local TV measurement.

The 'JIC' is on the web at www.usjointindustrycommittee.com .