MRC accreditation

Yahoo may have earned itself a stay of execution with The Trade Desk. Plus, TV buyers are clinging to Nielsen for yet another upfront season.

The MRC and the broadcaster-backed joint industry committee released a joint statement to clarify the difference between them, which has been a charged topic ever since the JIC formed last year.

Comscore announced that it secured Media Rating Council accreditation for both national and local TV ratings – just in time for this year’s upfront negotiations.

When the MRC revoked its seal of approval for Nielsen’s TV ratings in 2021, it spurred a hunt for alternatives. Now, media and tech companies are debating whether MRC accreditation is even necessary.

Integral Ad Science added a new capability to measure brand safety and suitability for off-YouTube sites and apps through YouTube’s ad network.

Agencies are busy gearing up to buy client campaigns on alt currency this upfront season. But the transition to alt currency is a work in progress, and the industry isn’t dumping Nielsen entirely.

“Measurement” and “currency” are often conflated in TV land, but they’re not the same. They have different standards and use cases – and these contrasts matter as the industry looks for a better way to transact TV ads.

Nielsen has re-earned its accreditation from the Media Rating Council for national TV ratings. But will Nielsen be able to regain the industry’s trust before it’s too late?

This year’s Upfronts need to continue the conversation about measurement that includes outcome-based guarantees in a linear and, eventually, convergent TV world. Otherwise, the TV industry risks falling further and further behind digital capabilities, writes Spencer Lambert, manager of product and partnership success at datafuelX.

TV measurement is reaching an inflection point. But with all the saturation, there’s at least one thing most competing measurement providers can agree on: the importance of independent accreditation.