The Challenge of Measuring Video Inventory. An Interview with AMC Networks’ Tom Ziangas

The question of measurement looms large, especially in how we treat remnant inventory.  How should the industry monitor, handle and best measure this inventory?  Tom Ziangas, Senior Vice President Research for AMC Networks, recently participated in a panel on addressable advertising hosted by Mitch Oscar, USIM’s Advanced TV Strategist, for BIA.  Ziangas shared his views on how addressable will impact linear and remnant inventory measurement.

It should be noted that the definition of remnant inventory can vary by platform. For addressable it is often the fraction of a specific unit that might be unsold. In Linear it can be the full unit that might then be sold as direct response.

Charlene Weisler: What do you envision as the best methodology to measure addressable?

Tom Ziangas: Just by the virtue of legacy measurement and the utility of census level RTB STB data, we will need a hybrid approach to measure addressable ad exposure.  While today national ads are measured via Nielsen panel to provide C3/C7 commercial Ad Measurement, measuring national addressable will need the hybrid approach of panel and census level data.  Addressable will be a footprint of the total U.S., we will still need to back out the addressable impressions (census level RTB STB data) from the currency C3/C7 national panel measurement from Nielsen, and while this complicates measurement, we need to make sure that the advertiser is made whole and provide accurate measurements of their ad placement in the linear and digital world. This applies to both linear and remnant inventory with a little caveat, since most of remnant inventory is not guaranteed we may have more flexibility for non-currency reporting.

Weisler: What are the other challenges that you see regarding data and measurement in this space?

Ziangas: As stated above, the biggest challenges are the “mixing” of methodologies (panel and census) and creating standards amongst the addressable players in this space and how we will all work with Nielsen to get this done.  Just think about if we have Nielsen traditional linear measurement on one side and we will need to integrate addressable measurement from multiple players (Canoe, OAR, Nielsen Addressable, etc.) on the other side; all side will need to collaborate together to make the buying/selling process seamless.  If this does not happen, we will be in the same place VOD is in today, under-valued and under-monetized. These challenges affect both linear and remnant similarly, we need to have measures and metrics for both to best understand the performance of the casmpaigns.

Weisler: Where do you see measurement in this space next year at this time?

Ziangas: While addressable is moving in the right direction, it is not keeping up with the pace of change. While I am talking about measurement, there is a lot of work that needs to be done operationally, and along with that, we need the time to make sure this process from traffic to Broadcast & Technology to planning and reporting is all in sync.  So, we will take the steps as we are doing today, such as pilots with our partners, learning with our partners and implementation.  We will be in a better place next year this time, but it will continue to be a work in progress.