In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, the video industry faces a significant challenge: how to accurately measure and monetize content across fragmented platforms and walled gardens. This article explores the current state of measurement, the potential solutions, and the role that local telcos could play in creating a universal ID platform.
The Current Measurement Conundrum
From One Truth to Many
Historically, TV measurement relied on a single, imperfect source of truth in each country. With the shift to IP-based TV, we now have multiple incomplete sources of truth competing with one another. This fragmentation has led to two key issues:
- The creation of walled gardens around media assets
- A desperate need for collaboration between industry partners
The Impact of Fragmentation
- User Experience: Limited understanding of viewer behavior across platforms
- Media Buyers: Difficulty in reconciling consumer journeys across different assets
Local vs. Global Measurement
As content services become globalized, national measurement bodies must now consider foreign actors with global interests. This raises the question: can we think globally while acting locally?
The Evolution of Advertising Currencies
The natural progression of TV advertising is following digital video, with gross rating points (GRP) likely to be replaced by cost per mile (CPM). However, digital ad currencies were not designed with TV and mass reach in mind.
Potential Solutions
Collaboration is Key
Several initiatives are emerging to enable cross-platform measurement:
- BARB in the UK opening its solution to streamers
- Médiamétrie in France adapting to segmented TV spots
- CFlight in the UK bringing together first-party data from publishers
Pan-European Solutions
- RTL’s AdAlliance
- Utiq, launched by major European telcos
Data Clean Rooms
Companies like Infosum and Liveramp are enabling data sharing while ensuring user privacy.
The Potential of a Universal ID Platform by Local Telcos
Given the challenges faced by the industry, local telcos could potentially play a crucial role in creating a universal ID platform. Let’s explore the pros and cons of this approach:
Pros:
- Comprehensive Data: Telcos have access to granular, first-party data on user behavior across devices and networks.
- Existing Infrastructure: Telcos already have the technological infrastructure to handle large amounts of data securely.
- Local Trust: In many markets, telcos are trusted local entities, which could help with user acceptance and regulatory compliance.
- Cross-Platform Visibility: Telcos can potentially track user behavior across both traditional TV and digital platforms.
- GDPR Compliance: As demonstrated by initiatives like Utiq, telcos are well-positioned to create consent frameworks that comply with privacy regulations.
- Reduced Fragmentation: A telco-led universal ID could help unify the currently fragmented measurement landscape.
Cons:
- Competitive Concerns: Telcos are often fierce competitors, which could make collaboration challenging.
- Limited Content Expertise: Telcos may lack deep understanding of content consumption patterns compared to media companies.
- Potential Bias: There might be concerns about telcos favoring their own content or distribution platforms.
- Regulatory Hurdles: Creating a universal ID platform could face scrutiny from competition authorities.
- Global Limitations: Local telcos might struggle to capture data from global platforms like Netflix or YouTube.
- Investment Requirements: Developing and maintaining such a platform would require significant financial and technological resources.
- Adoption Challenges: Convincing all industry players to use a telco-led universal ID could be difficult, especially for global media companies.
The Way Forward
The video industry’s measurement challenges require a paradigm shift towards collaboration. While walled gardens are unlikely to disappear, creating common identifiers and agreed-upon currencies is crucial.
A telco-led universal ID platform could be a promising solution, leveraging their unique position in the data ecosystem. However, its success would depend on overcoming competitive barriers and ensuring widespread industry adoption.
Ultimately, as one industry veteran noted, “Currencies don’t need to be right, they just need to be agreed on.” The future of video measurement lies in finding this common ground, whether through telco-led initiatives or other collaborative efforts.
Sources:
- Dataxis European Video Industry Report 2024
- BARB Cross-Platform Measurement Study 2023
- Médiamétrie Segmented TV Advertising Report 2023
- CFlight UK Performance Data 2024
- Utiq Launch Press Release 2023
- European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO) Annual Report 2024