Total TV Measurement has been used with multiple GroupM clients already but was given its official go-to-market launch in June after receiving a stamp of approval from PwC, which conducted an exhaustive assurance review of the end-to-end processes and methodology used. This covered everything from data cleaning to data fusion, de-duplication and quality checks, with all nine categories of investigation passed.

Total TV Measurement first measures and de-duplicates addressable TV audience exposures across the entire Finecast supplier ecosystem, which includes linear broadcast addressable TV plus BVOD, AVOD and other ‘TV-like’ (i.e., high-quality, broadcaster equivalent standard) streaming. This is achieved by combining Finecast log-level data with measurement provided by AudienceProject, which runs its own viewing panel (complete with establishment survey). This cross-channel addressable audience view is then combined with BARB data via TechEdge to show de-duplicated reach and frequency across the addressable and classic linear portions of a campaign.

Currently the new product does not attempt to de-duplicate audiences between one streaming addressable source and another, with the focus on showing the difference a combined addressable buy makes on top of linear. This more granular de-duplication may come later.

The outputs from Total TV Measurement are: cross-channel addressable TV reach and frequency; linear campaign reach and frequency; overall de-duplicated reach and frequency; Finecast (addressable) and linear TV 1+ cover curves (with other custom cover curves considered).

Samantha Lister, Head of Marketing Science at Finecast, comments: “This is a solution for brands that want to understand how reach interacts across addressable TV and linear TV and how they can optimise reach across the two. It helps them consider the impact of budget allocation.”

She adds: “Historically, linear TV has been the most cost-effective medium when it comes to reach, but declining linear audiences and deflating [addressable TV] costs mean brands are leaning more into addressable TV. When we launched Finecast, it was ‘linear-first’ [on the plan] and then you added incremental reach [via addressable], but today it is not always linear first, depending on the audience you want to reach. There are some audiences where you should plan for addressable first or where you can invest less in linear before you move budget to addressable.”

As for the PwC verification to ISRS 4400 (Revised) standards, this was a proactive move, since the GroupM clients using the solution (and the GroupM agencies) were happy with the outcomes and their own due diligence. Lister wanted to get ahead of the curve. “As more budget shifts from linear to addressable, addressable comes under greater scrutiny. We are so proud of what we have done we wanted a seal of approval. There was no huge demand for an assurance review from our clients.”

One study for a GroupM client shows what they gain in terms of knowledge. It demonstrated +2.3% incremental reach into the 18-34 age group and +1.3% incremental gain across all adults when addressable was added to standard linear TV. Savings were also indicated – based on what it would have cost to achieve that level of incremental reach through continued linear buys. Total TV measurement is free on selected campaigns and the ambition is that it becomes standard practice for qualifying campaigns where linear and addressable are being combined.

The study said that although over-the-top revenue is still dwarfed by cable and satellite spending, there is a “great unbundling” happening worldwide with the launch of services like sports streaming offering DAZN and Disney’s forthcoming Disney+ service.

PwC estimates that OTT video revenue accounted for 18.6% of the global TV subscription revenue in 2018, but will jump to 35.4% in 2023 after growing at a 13.8% CAGR to reach US$72.8bn – thanks to consumption increases in mature markets and rapid expansion in less-developed regions.

PwC also predicts that the advent of 5G mobile connectivity will lead to new kinds of bundles, including 5G packaged with subscriptions to OTT services.

“As content becomes the force that attracts and retains consumers, OTT providers have entered an expensive arms race to develop original shows and obtain rights to sporting events,” said the report. “Many streaming video-on-demand services have failed because they couldn’t acquire sufficient numbers of customers.”

Another key theme of the report was around personalisation, with empowered consumers controlling their own media consumption via an expanding range of smart devices and curating their own selection of channels via OTT services.

“5G’s impact will be felt across the entire technology, media and telecommunications value chain for the next decade. It will hasten existing trends towards personalisation, making it easier, more convenient and cheaper to access more media on phones and other mobile devices,” said Wilson Chow, Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Leader and Partner, PwC China.

“Key impacts of 5G for entertainment and media will include enabling more streaming of high-quality video — including of live events like sports and music — and better use of AI, together with massive opportunities for video games and VR in terms of speed and quality of images.”

For more information and to access the report, click here.