Will Your Brogrammer Start a Skunkworks that Bricks Your Phone? Translation Tool: CIMM’s Lexicon 3.0 Update.

Four years and over 1000 terms later, CIMM has released an update to its media measurement industry Lexicon, called Lexicon 3.0.

The CIMM Lexicon, first introduced in 2010, collected all terms and definitions for return path data  media measurement. Two years later in 2012, it expanded to include terms for cross platform, dynamic advertising, connected TV, iTV and Automatic Content Recognition. But the media world has evolved so dramatically and so rapidly with new technology, IoT, digitaization, virtual and augemented reality and programmatic, that the expansion of the media vocabulary required a further update in 2016. What first appeared as a clear cut simple update soon became almost a Sisyphean task as the number and types of terms exponentially increased and new terms coined and introduced daily.

“The challenge of updating the Lexicon has grown vastly more difficult since 2010,” says Jane Clarke, Managing Director and CEO of CIMM.  “Even as this Lexicon was being updated, new terms and definitions were emerging almost daily.  But with this rapid change, the need for having a common language that we can all align on and understand is even more essential to the continued evolution of cross-platform media measurement.”

The rapid expansion of data sources, types of selling and delivery systems and expanding consumer options results in new descriptors and makes the need for an ongoing update of the CIMM Lexicon necessary. As before in previous versions, the updated CIMM Lexicon 3.0 remains true to its original purpose of creating a common language, even as that language expands.  “This is not a final document but a work in progress that will be continually updated,” states Clarke.

Terms like Brogrammer (a portmanteau of bro and programmer, is a satirical, slang term for a male programmer in a fraternity-like milieu), Blockchain (a critical part of the bitcoin peer-to-peer payment system) and Romance Scam (a form of internet scam where thieves use online services to pretend to be romantic companions) have even become part of the language of the culture at large.

Other terms such as Daisy Chain (a programmatic term for the linking of ad networks in order to ensure that an ad will be served in order to optimize revenues), Digibabble (erroneously treating anything digital as a magical marketing tool) and Script Kiddie (an unskilled individual who uses scripts or programs developed by others to attack systems or deface sites) are fairly media-centric.

"It's ironic that digital technology should have streamlined media measurement and have created a common language for cross-platform analytics - but what it has done instead is to create a whole new, inconsistent and ever-changing vocabulary and a measurement Tower of Babel," says Jonathan Steuer, Chief Research Officer at Omnicom Media Group. "Until we one day reach that communication and measurement nirvana, the CIMM Lexicon serves as an interim Rosetta Stone to help sort it all out."

Interested in expanding your media vocabulary? A full of copy of CIMM’s Lexicon 3.0 can be downloaded at http://cimm-us.org/cimm-whitepaper/.

This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com

Ch Ch Ch Changes. TV of Tomorrow

There is only one thing that is constant whenever I attend the TV of Tomorrow conference and that is the discussion of change. But it is the rate of change that is especially dizzying today. As advanced technology permeates all aspects of consumer life, the impact on media is more like a revolution instead of an evolution. And that is what makes our industry so exciting.... or do I mean worrying? It all depends on where your business and your leadership sit in the ecosystem. Traditional media companies (whether in content curation or sales or measurement) need to keep up with the advancements or risk eroding their business.

Tracy Swedlow, Founder of TVOT explained that “this is an exceptionally changing year…. because there is so much disruption... investment, new ideas, platforms. Companies have to aggressively change their strategies even faster than they had to before.”

Even companies in the highly traditional measurement space are now expanding and modifying their systems to better address today’s measurement needs. Whether acquiring a competitor (like Nielsen and Arbitron or Rentrak and Kantar) or expanding via partnerships (like Nielsen and Adobe), the consolidation of efforts can result in more efficient and insightful measurement capabilities.

See a short video of some of the highlights of TVOT here:

For those of us in the traditional TV sector, changes can be divided into “Positive” and unsettlingly “Disruptive.” Here is how they parse out for me:

Positive Changes

We Are Speaking the Same Language

Back in 2010 CIMM commissioned me to write a Lexicon, to facilitate the standardization of measurement terms and definitions and help create a common language. Now terms like Digital Programmatic, Big Data and First Party Data tend to have generally accepted definitions. When we talk about census level data, there is general agreement as to what that means. It was not always so. Speaking a common language will facilitate further positive change.

Measurement Getting More Focused and Transparent
With all of the big and small data sets available and the advanced technology to drive analytics, we are now able to get to the core of consumer tracking behavior instead of relying on age and gender proxies.  CIMM’s Jane Clarke believes that there are two big positive trends in measurement - profiling and access. "One big trend is to profile customers based on the data and linking datasets across platforms such as linking purchase data with media use data. The media data revolution started in digital and is now moving into TV. The second trend is the proliferation of ways to access data. Planning and buying are evaluating effectiveness across platforms. This is driven by the desire to move away from linear rating points, away from surrogates of age and gender, to target consumers."

Now We Can Measure Sales Funnel Instead of Demographics
Along those lines, we can now attribute actual sales results to specific media campaigns. This frees us to valuate audiences based on actual purchases. Dunnhumby’s Lung Huang explains, “It is all about big data. We are ultimately doing matching exposure to purchase based on a verified household or person. We are taking the guesswork out of it. When Ted Turner first started CNN and it wasn’t rated, he sold ginsu knives. He didn't care about ratings. He wanted to see how many knives he sold. It is freeing today not to be tied to legacy. There are many different audiences and we can show you that they saw the ad and bought it.”

Disruptive Changes

The Long View Is Much More Important

We tend to have a short attention span in the TV business. We tend to look at content development and upfront sales a season ahead. Occasionally we plan ahead but generally we are looking down the block rather than across town. Facebook’s Patrick Harris noted that “We tend to overestimate in short term and under estimate in the long term. Where is the content where you are living three years from now? The creative bar has changed. It is now adding value when it used to be getting attention.”

Is Programmatic Destined to Include TV?

Can we expect programmatic to expand to television any time soon? Beth Rockwood of Discovery believes that “The television business is different in that the inventory is generally tight and therefore enjoys very high CPMs, especially in broadcast” while Visible World’s Seth Haberman states that “It already is.” Dave Morgan of Simulmedia sees both sides. He says “If programmatic TV means that a large portion of TV advertising will soon be bought and sold on a data-driven, audience-denomiated basis on metrics other than sex/age demographics, the answer is yes. That day is coming fast. However, if programmatic TV means that TV ads are about to be bought and sold machine-to-machine on a dynamic, real-time auction basis like online display. No. That kind of programmatic TV is years and years away."

Everything Takes Longer Than Expected

Despite our need for speed, transitions in the industry often take time. Rentrak’s Cathy Hetzel explained, “We are undergoing MRC accreditation now. We are changing the way TV is bought and sold but it does not change overnight. It happens when you achieve success. Rentrak started with unmeasured networks and the local stations embraced us. But to be part of the ecosystem we need to move up the chain.”

Technology Brings Its Own Timing Challenges

Mike Willner of Penthera noted the technological challenge of streaming ad supported video content.  “When you add advertising to downloaded content it becomes more complicated because of the ad flights. Christmas ads can be streamed in December 24 but viewed on December 26. So we would need to download next flight of ads. We have technology that helps to do this, we can ID the user and what content they are viewing and we can coordinate with the advertiser. But we can only upload new ads in streaming environment - not when it is downloaded for future use.”

Despite the dizzying spiral of change it is possible to carve out a path to assured future success for television in the evolving media ecosystem. The secret is to stay on top of the trends and take calculated long term risks. Don’t kick the vacuum tube down the road.


An excerpted version of this article appeared on www.Mediapost.com

Crossroads in Cross Media and Return Path Data

Last week’s Cross-Platform Video Measurement Summit not only addressed new advancements in cross-platform measurement, it also provided an update on the state of return path data. For those of us who have been grappling with how to best measure content in the world of Big Data, it was an opportunity to have some of the best minds in the business present their vision of the digital future.

When it comes to cross-platform measurement solutions in that area seem to be an embarrassment of riches. Research companies such as Nielsen, Arbitron, ComScore, Simmons, GFK MRI and Google are forming partnerships, merging data streams and creating market positions. But the ability to measure a specific piece of video across all potential platforms remains elusive. Artie Bulgrin from ESPN said “We need passive real time measurements” for cross platform in the form of universal watermarks.

CIMM (The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement) is doing just that – developing a universal watermarking protocol for the measurement of video across all possible platforms. This initiative, called TAXI (Trackable Asset Cross-Platform Identification) started in 2010 and, as Managing Director Jane Clarke announced, will be entering a Proof of Concept pilot stage this fall. As with CIMM’s Set-Top Box Data Lexicon which strives to form a common language for return path data measurement, TAXI should help create a common language for cross-platform - a universal watermark which enables video across platforms and across companies to be measured and compared.

Moving the industry towards new measurement protocols takes time. Some are impatient with evolution and advocate an upending of today’s measurement shibboleths. As NBC’s Alan Wurtzel said, we need to “rethink the idea of TV video measurement and be open to new ideas.” Maybe that means dropping household and demographic group metrics (which are only proxies for individual behavior anyway) and focus on behaviorally segmented data.

Return Path Data is another area where measurement partnerships are finding fertile ground and where the need for a common language remains acute. In 2010, CIMM produced a Whitepaper on the STB Data Landscape. This whitepaper was recently updated and the results were presented by GroupM’s Lyle Schwartz and ABC’s Mark Loughney at the Summit. Both the original whitepaper and the re-contact study are posted on the CIMM website www.cimm-us.org.

From 2010 to today, CIMM found that there been positive movement in the use of return path data, predominantly in the advancement of addressable advertising and local measurement. There has been much more acceptance over the past year for the use of the data in various forms – both within companies and externally in the industry. There is even some movement in standardizing the data with the creation of foundational datasets.

But privacy concerns continue to be an important consideration in both cross platform and return path data implementation. In the area of RPD in particular, privacy is one of the reasons why there has not been greater roll-out of data across all MVPDs. The perceived limited amount of data as well as the cost associated with the available data is a source of frustration for some data end users.

For those of us immersed in big data for the media industry, the challenges of last year are still challenges this year. But forward movement is palpable. Some of these challenges are finally, albeit slowly, being met in the form of universal watermarks (for cross platform) and foundational datasets (in RPD). Can we be content with a slow but steady evolution or are we ready to foment a revolution?

Q&A Interview with Jane Clarke - CIMM

This week the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) announced the results of a feasibility study for the Trackable Asset Cross-Platform Identification (TAXI) project. This study, in partnership with the ANA, 4A’s and the IAB is a first step in implementing open and interoperable industry standard codes for content and ads across all content. I sat down with CIMM’s Managing Director, Jane Clarke to talk about TAXI and other CIMM initiatives.


CIMM could not have chosen a better Managing Director than Jane Clarke whose extensive and deep experience in Cross Platform and Set Top Box data contribute to her stellar reputation in the media industry. CIMM has two major initiatives – to facilitate the understanding of STB data and help facilitate Cross Platform measurement.

In this video interview, conducted a few days before the release of the TAXI findings, Jane discusses not only the specifications and back story of TAXI but also CIMM’s Cross Platform industry position, STB data and privacy. She also shares some predictions for the media landscape over the next few years.

The five videos that comprise the full interview are as follows:

Subject                               Length (in minutes)
Background                          (2:13)
CIMM and Cross Platform   (5:35)
TAXI                                   (12:29)
Set Top-Box Data                (8:37)
Privacy and Predictions         (7:54)


Charlene Weisler interviews Jane Clarke, Managing Director of CIMM who discusses her background in cable and cross platform: in this 2:13 minute video clip:





Charlene Weisler interviews Jane Clarke who talks about CIMM and its cross platform initiatives in this 5:35 minute video clip:





Charlene Weisler interviews Jane Clarke who discusses TAXI, CIMM's latest initiative. This informative video is 12:29 minutes long:



Jane Clarke talks about CIMM's work in Set Top Box data including the Lexicon and Set Top Box Data Landscape whitepaper in this 8:37 minute video:




In this final video, Jane Clarke discusses the issue of Privacy and well as offers some insights inot the future media landscape. This concluding video is 7:54 minutes long:

CIMM Lexicon on Mediapost - A Word A Week

CIMM, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, whose Lexicon of Set Top Box Data terms and definitions has helped to standardize the language associated with STB data and its measurement has just launched a weekly column on Mediapost's TV Board called A Word A Week. This column selects a term and definition from the CIMM Lexicon and places it in context.

As a compiler and editor of the CIMM Lexicon, I am pleased to see that the terms and definitions will be showcased to a wide audience via Mediapost and hope that this will help facilitate STB data standardization, measurement and usage in the industry.

CIMM STB Roadmap Whitepaper

CIMM (The Committee For Innovative Media Measurement) has just released the results of an extensive study on the Set Top Box data landscape. I have had the privilege of participating in the collection of the data with Managing Director Jane Clarke and then of compiling the results and writing the resulting whitepaper.

The CIMM STB Data Roadmap Whitepaper is the next step after the CIMM STB Data Lexicon of Terms and Defintions. CIMM's intent with the whitepaper was to explore the current state of STB data as it applies to understanding its strengths and weaknesses for a wide range of applications. Included in the analysis are feedback and insights from a range of constituents from data originators to data processors to software vendors to end users at advertising agencies and content providers as well as other interested parties such as media industry organizations.

The whitepaper – which summarizes and analyzes the results of the study - is arguably the only complete, holistic appraisal of the STB landscape available today. We reached out to all sectors of the industry – all those who touch and are touched by the data. The level of cooperation and the comfort that executives from across the spectrum had with the process is a testament to CIMM’s position in the industry as an unbiased coalition of the end users of media data.

In addition to an industry overview, a goal of the project was to prioritize an industry road map for the development STB data for a variety of uses such as use by the MVPDs (Multi-Channel Video Program Distributors) for marketing and carriage negotiations, granular analyses of programming and advertising, enabling various forms of segmented or addressable advertising or spending on television promotions, matching with outside databases to enable media buying ROI analyses and development of an audit-ready local or national measurement product, all while operating in a construct that does not violate consumer privacy laws. This whitepaper offers insights into the advantages and challenges of the data with suggestions for a workable STB measurement model to which media companies – from programmers to marketers to agencies - may support and subscribe.

Please click here for a PDF version of the CIMM STB Data Roadmap Whitepaper.

Scripps Presentation on Set Top Box Data

The Set Top Box Data arena currently includes many data originators, processors and end users each using and examining the data in different ways. The hope of the industry is that these data analyses can eventually lead to some level of standardization and possible currency.

One step in this quest was the creation of a Lexicon of Terms and Definitions which was commissioned by CIMM and involved the cooperation on many major STB companies and clients.

Other steps include interesting comparison analyses with other currencies. Mike Pardee, SVP Research at Scripps, has been deeply involved in examining STB data. He has graciously allowed the posting of one of his department's presentations here. This presentation is called "A Mingle Source Look At Set Top Box Data."

A Next Step in Set Top Box Data Adoption: The CIMM Lexicon

Much has been written about Set-Top Box data. Some say the data are one of the most exciting opportunities for media measurement in recent years. Others point out the vexing problems and inherent challenges. One thing is clear however; Set-Top box data offer granularity that, with some standardization and agreed upon rules, could add to our overall knowledge of media usage.




Jane Clarke, Managing Director CIMM














But where to start? The advancement of Set-Top Box data has been hampered by concerns about privacy, footprints versus samples, editing rules and full access to the data, among other issues. Despite years of collection, aggregation and analysis, Set-Top box data is still essentially in its formative stages. For one thing, new measurement terms and editing rules are being created every day. This is resulting in a “Tower of Babel” where suppliers and users may not always be talking the same language.

As a first step towards standardization and fuller implementation of Set-Top box data as another measurement tool, CIMM has embarked on an ambitious project to collect, collate and interpret all the myriad types of terms that are being developed as part of the Set-Top Box data measurement initiative. The result is a comprehensive Lexicon of Set-Top box data terms and their definitions. Until now, there was no single source that offered a full reference list of these metrics and their definitions.

This week, as part of Cable Week at the CTAM Research & Insights Conference in LA, CIMM debuts the first Set-Top Box Lexicon. This is part of an effort to create a common language so that the standardization and adoption of Set-Top box data as a media measurement tool can proceed smoothly and efficiently across the industry. The Lexicon is a work in progress and will be continually updated.


CIMM Lexicon
CIMM is well positioned in the industry to help with the standardization of terms and usage. CIMM represents a coalition of end users of media measurement who have a vested interest in helping to develop strong, accurate Set-Top box measurement standards that can help to grow their businesses.

The analysis of Set-Top Box data in the U.S. has been expanding in recent months and there are indications that the necessary steps are being taken to standardize data coming from a wide variety of configurations of networks, hardware and software. The data that are starting to become available include not only linear TV data, but data from DVR playback, VOD (Video-on Demand) sessions, ITV (Interactive TV) applications, the EPG (Electronic Program Guide), as well as data from remote controls.

But this is not without measurement constraints that need to be resolved including the standardization of terms and metrics and an agreement on the best algorithm for such metrics as Capping and Latency, for example. There are also coverage considerations because Return Path Data aren’t available for over-the-air homes (which is a diminishing universe) and satellite homes that aren’t connected to phone lines. Finally, there are a range of basic technical issues being addressed, such as synchronizing time across systems, developing edit rules for data outages, accurately identifying content and ads across different boxes and systems, as well as managing the enormous volume of data generated. These are all being addressed now.

Despite the current constraints, the potential uses of Set-Top Box data are many:
 Set-Top Box data, with its larger footprint, can enable unmeasured networks (often highly targeted networks) to finally be measured with statistical stability, enabling them to attract more advertising and grow.
 Set-Top Box data can also provide the granularity needed to produce TV ratings for smaller audiences who are underrepresented in current measurement.
 Tuning data can be provided at second-by-second intervals, providing the potential to measure the audience for commercials with lengths shorter than a minute.
 Set-Top Box data offers an opportunity to measure out-of-home and second home viewing and usage patterns.
 Sellers of local advertising across all networks in small markets often find themselves without enough stable data to get credit for advertisements aired on their networks.
 Additionally, Set-Top Box data enable forms of segmented advertising and creative versioning for programs, networks, dayparts and geographic areas Set-Top Box data can provide new opportunities for the TV industry to attract spending from advertisers that has been spent on direct mail.

The challenges facing the multichannel operators in bringing Set-Top Box data products to market aren’t only technical. There are regulatory and privacy concerns that are being addressed to make sure that data are aggregated and de-identified. There are also business models that need to be built, since the data business is new for multichannel operators, whose primary concern is the relationship with their subscribers and secondarily, advertising partnerships.

All these new opportunities take time to develop, and the initiatives taken now will shape the nature of Set-Top Box data products. The first step is for all of us to begin to speak a common language. CIMM’s goal is to support development of the Set-Top Box data business, and the Lexicon is the first step in this direction.