As an NBC affiliate researcher many years ago, nothing
disappointed me more than opening up a local market sweeps book and seeing
hashmarks instead of ratings. That meant
that the ratings performance fell below minimum reporting standards. But we all
knew that there were some impressions there that could be reported… if we
reported on impressions.
Local TV has traditionally relied on ratings for transactions,
understanding that the reliance on ratings obscured some of the valuable yet
smaller audiences delivered in certain markets. This is why I am happy to
report that, finally, there is a cogent industry movement afoot to change the
transactional measurement from ratings to impressions in Local TV. The TVB
recently announced their commitment to the cause along with support and
advocacy from Nielsen.
For Catherine Herkovic, Executive Vice President, Managing
Director Local TV, Nielsen,
a movement to impressions based transactions is not only common sense but also part
of Nielsen’s value as a measurement company. “Nielsen has always done impressions
based measurement. Impressions are the foundation of all of the calculations of
everything we do. The raw materials we send out is impressions and always has
been,” she explained.
Why Then Ratings? Why Now Impressions?
“National
has always transacted on impressions and some ask, so why hasn’t Local?” Herkovic
queried. “That’s because ratings percentages provide a relative understanding
of performance across different size markets. And that will still be used for
planning purposes. Ratings won’t disappear but impressions will be used for
transactions,” she stated.
A move to
impressions will facilitate the easy inclusion of Local TV into multiplatform
buys and offer proof of performance. Currently most media, such as National TV
and Digital, transact on impressions. Local TV is one of the few still using
ratings. Local Radio is another. In addition, “Given the fragmentation of
audiences, when you round ratings you are losing audience and so impressions
allow us to capture the total audience,” Herkovic concluded.
While a move to impressions makes sense, Nielsen must remain
measurement agnostic. “Advertisers and agencies want to buy engagement with
people, not households, not devices,” noted Dave Hohman, Executive Vice President,
Demand Side Media, Nielsen, who added, “Even though the measurement exists, it
is up to the buyers and sellers to agree what the transaction currency is going
to be. Nielsen can develop it and make it available but the industry has to
adopt it.”
The Agencies’ Position
So where is
the industry at this point in time regarding Local TV impressions-based
transactions? Many agencies are already using impressions. Kathy Doyle,
Executive Vice President Investment and her team at Magna Global, “buy all of
our local television and radio off impressions. We’ve been doing it for a few
years.” She noted that Magna has been ahead of other agencies in this effort.
“Yes,” she affirmed, “This has been our baby.”
Other early movers include, Jenifer Weldon, Owner and
President, whose company Fat Free Media, “has utilized impressions in planning
and buying for our client, Morgan & Morgan, for 15 years,” and Jennifer
Hungerbuhler, Executive Vice President Managing
Director, Local Video and Audio Investment, Dentsu
Aegis Network who changed over in January 2017. “We primarily use it for
buying and research,” she noted.
For Kevin Gallagher, Executive Vice President Managing
Director, Spark Foundry, the move to impressions for Local TV has not yet occurred
in his agency. “I would say that we are in the preparation stage. We are not
currently using impressions specifically to spot TV but we use it in other
media channels. National TV, Digital. It is the common currency in every
channel except Local TV and Radio right now,” he noted. His team is working on
capturing impressions data for all four quarters of 2020 in all of their
systems and tools before they make the switch.
Advantages and Disadvantages in Local TV
Impressions
When asked about the pros and cons of moving to impressions,
the general response was that it was advantageous to do so. “I really do not
see any disadvantages at all (in moving to impressions),” noted Doyle. “There
are areas (of the country) that don’t deliver ratings. Now there are
impressions that we can buy that help with reach and pricing.” And she added, entre
nous, “if nobody else is buying on impressions, we can buy it and nobody else
can.” But the main reason why Doyle pushed for impressions was because she saw
the need early on to adapt to a cross platform media world. She wanted her
buyers to, “get used to the vernacular of buying off of impressions rather than
ratings. Getting to a world where we are buying video, audio, cross device and
screen,” she explained
An advantage for Gallagher is that, “It puts spot TV and
radio on a common currency with all of the other media channels. It will be
easier from a planning standpoint and in aggregating all audiences across
channels.” But, “the downside is the conversion process moving from traditional
pricing benchmarks for our planning teams and clients. Right now those (benchmarks)
are on a cost per point basis.”
For Weldon, “The main advantage is the ability to compare
costs across all media forms based on the cost-per-thousand, or CPM. All media is brought to a level playing field
for cost analysis.” But she also sees that, “GRP-based planning and buying (needs)
to adapt and adjust to impression-level buying” is a challenge. “Broadcast
television impressions are not the same as digital impressions,” she explained.
“Nor should agencies be lulled into thinking they are - either from
complacency, urgency or lack of understanding.
There could be a disservice to clients if agency acceptance of
impression-based buying leads to a lack of understanding of what type of
impressions are being purchased, where those impressions will run and the
guarantees against those impressions,” she warned.
“I certainly see far more advantages than I see
disadvantages,” stated Hungerbuhler. “Impressions give us a common currency
that allows us to take a more holistic approach to tracking audiences within a
market across screens, allowing for easier cross platform executions.
Impressions also give better insight into the actual number of people viewing,
instead of a percentage of people viewing, and in this day and age of
fragmentation, every eyeball counts.” For her, “Capturing more viewers will
ultimately increase inventory, also increasing the potential for rates to
decline. Lastly, impressions make it easier for local buyers to combine
multiple markets into one buy, such as an unwired regional buy, or to report
metrics across multiple markets. Impressions are added up with simple addition,
as opposed to ratings which are weighted by audience populations and are not
easily comparable to each other.”
What can Nielsen Do to Facilitate the
Conversion?
All agreed
that Nielsen should play a major role in navigating the industry towards
impressions based transactions. “I think what Nielsen can do to help in this
conversion is to advocate,” suggested Gallagher, “to anyone in this ecosystem
who uses Nielsen ratings to make the move into impressions.”
Nielsen must
get involved, explained Weldon, and “work closely with agencies to provide
education and support in the process of transitioning from GRP to impression
universes via in-house training or online webinars.” In addition, she
continued, Nielsen should also, “Engage leading software providers to ensure
they are providing training tools or quick step guides on defining the new
universe specific to their software and encourage stations to lead the charge
in education of sales teams.” This
sentiment was echoed by Hungerbuhler, who added, “NSI can send out thought
leadership, educating clients, planners and buyers (by) explaining the
difference between ratings and impressions and showcase the benefits of cross
platform and what more precise measurement can mean to advertisers.”
The overall
feeling was that the move to impressions could reach critical mass at the
agencies sooner than later, perhaps by 2021. But the most important thing is
to, “Keep the conversation going among clients,” advised Doyle to Nielsen, “And
I think there is some work that can be done to show the benefit and stability,”
of using impressions.
This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com
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