Can Viacom’s Deal With ComScore Boost Its Advertising Revenues?
Recently Viacom (NASDAQ:VIA) announced that it had entered into a multi-year partnership with ComScore which will give it access to ComScore’s measurement tools across TV, video on demand, digital and over-the-top environments. Viacom will use this data on its Vantage platform to provide targeted advertising for its marketers across various media platforms. With the release, the company states that this partnership is “a watershed moment in the business of television and a revolution in targeting, currency and measurement.” Viacom’s advertising partners should benefit from this partnership as this will allow them to reach their precise audience more efficiently. This partnership is likely to put Viacom in an advantageous position as it negotiates with advertisers for its upcoming seasons in its 2016 Upfront Presentations.
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Cross-Platform Data Critical As Viewing Shifts To Mobile Devices
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While Nielsen has been the most popular measurement tool for media advertisers, it faces criticism for being too slow on cross platform measurement. With a younger audience for its most popular networks MTV and Nickelodeon, Viacom is focusing on making its content available on mobile devices through its “TV everywhere” initiative. Recently the company launched Viacom Plex Play a suite of video-centric apps which can be used by users to access its content on mobile devices. As consumers move away from Pay-TV and video on demand gains popularity, Viacom is ensuring that its initiatives are geared towards tapping into this trend.
Marketers increasingly seek data across various platforms with a granular view of the audience so as to best target their advertisements. As the audience accesses content via multiple viewing platforms, new tools are necessary in this current transition of viewership from linear TV to video on demand. ComScore’s cross platform tools gather information from not only more than 40 million televisions, but from 120 million video-on-demand users in 210 markets across the U.S. In all, there are 1.5 trillion monthly digital interactions. Viacom’s Vantage platform would translate this data to allow advertisers to reach audiences on every platform where they are consuming content, so as to measure the impact of their spending. According to Zenith Optimedia, the number of people watching traditional linear TV will start to decline in 2016, forecasting that the number of TV viewers will shrink by 1.9% in this year. On the other hand, viewer time spent on online video consumption will increase by nearly 20% in 2016, driven by consumption of videos on mobile devices. This consumption is forecast to grow by 35% in 2016.
While Viacom is struggling to maintain its TV ratings, it will increasingly make its content available on alternative platforms, which should benefit the company. The partnership with ComScore provides the company with the ability to measure video viewing across TV and other digital platforms. This will allow it to best sell ads based on active data, which in turn should allow Viacom to attract more advertisers on its network.
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