TV advertising has outgrown the measurement model it inherited. Fragmented distribution, siloed datasets, and mismatched currencies make it harder to validate delivery with confidence, deduplicate exposure, and manage reach and frequency across linear and streaming. The result is a structural gap; ads can be delivered across an expanding set of paths, but not all those deliveries can be counted, creating a gap between what ran and what can be verified.
This study sets out to investigate the thesis that broadcast television can evolve from a ratings-based medium to a uniform, impression-based medium by enabling the aggregation of broadcast, multicast, and streaming into a single deterministic data pool that provides more accurate, cross-platform ad delivery data at scale across CTV, linear, and apps. Building on CIMM’s 2025 The Case for an Industry Action Plan: Supporting an Open, Industry-standard Watermarking Solution, a watermarking proof of concept (POC) delivered by CTV1 Media Services moves the conversation from theory to practice by testing whether an open, interoperable approach can produce trustworthy, scalable ad-count signals in everyday environments. The paper analyzes the results of this POC test in order to explore the technical feasibility and practical scalability of a watermark-based measurement framework across the US.
The watermarking POC is led and operationalized by CTV1, which has designed a standards-based watermarking and ad-counting framework and coordinated execution across a broad ecosystem of OEMs, broadcasters, agencies, and technology partners. The initiative leverages established standards (ATSC A/334 and ACIF) to validate both the technical feasibility and business value of scalable, cross-platform ad measurement. CIMM and Deloitte worked together to document the POC, synthesize learnings, and help translate results into actionable guidance for industry adoption and future deployment.
