The Big Push to Local Impressions-Based Campaigns by the TVB

Just because local TV has historically transacted on ratings, doesn’t mean that we need to continue to do it that way. Why buy and sell on ratings when there are better metrics to use? 

The TVB has embarked on a huge initiative to change the way local TV is transacted. They call it the Local TV Impressions Campaign which is dedicated to move the industry from ratings-based to impressions-based. To me, it is hardly revolutionary and is arguably prudent. 

Why Impressions?

The reason to do this is simple. “The bottom line is this,” explained Steve Lanzano, President and CEO, TVB, “All other medium are being transacted on impressions, even network TV. In order for us to be able to integrate all of the assets we have, whether it’s over the top, streaming, websites, etc, and put together an integrated package for an advertiser, we need to go from percentages to actual impressions.”

Lanzano believes that we have reached the tipping point to make the move to transact on impressions, especially in a world on the threshold of automated buying. This move to impressions will, “facilitate automated buying and give us some real traction,” he noted. In addition, the move to impressions will enable local TV to become more targeted by placing more data on top of the impressions.

Change Anxiety

And yet, despite the soundness of the idea, the local industry has been slow to move to impressions. “We know that people don’t like to change,” admitted Hadassah Gerber, Executive Vice President, Chief Research Officer, TVB, “That is probably the biggest challenge. As Kettering said, ‘The world hates change but it is the only thing that has brought us progress.’” She noted that while most video platforms are currently trading on impressions, local television is not.  This creates a friction point among buyers who have to do the conversion themselves to integrate local into a larger buy.

In agencies, “planning has always been based on ratings but we bought on impressions,” she stated. And today, advertisers and agencies are ready to standardize based on impressions. When the 4As membership was polled as to what was the best option for currency across channels, seven out of ten said it was impressions. “We are trying to make things as easy as possible for agencies to buy local television,” she concluded.

Moving Towards a Common Metric

“There are hidden audiences that advertisers want to access,” Gerber explained. Unfortunately, the reported ratings in local are only out to the tenth decimal point - not fine enough to realize the actual audiences that may be viewing. Oftentimes the rating is reported as zero. “They see zeros when they want to buy and they can’t buy programs when they are zero and they see zeros on their posts even though there could be audiences there. With impressions there are always audiences there”

The argument for impressions rests on the following. “Point number one is that this facilitates cross platform measurement,” she noted. “Point number two is uncovering the hidden audiences,” that may be reported as zero when, in fact, there is audience there. With impressions, advertisers can buy more programs, increase their reach and know that they will have greater accuracy for program performance. Stations are also interested in moving towards impressions because they have digital properties that can be linked to on air using impressions.

For those agencies that still fear the move to impressions, Gerber has some encouraging advice. “Buying on impressions does not preclude planning on GRPs.” That may be the impetus some agencies need to make the move.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com