Availability of open, standardized approach to binding IDs to ads and program content marks potential milestone for advancement of cross-platform measurement
NEW YORK — Feb. 16, 2017 — Kantar Media’s audio watermarking technology for binding Ad-IDs to commercials and Entertainment ID Registry (EIDR) codes to programming content has been selected to move to the next step in the standardization process of the 24TB Open Binding of IDs Drafting Group of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers® (SMPTE®).
SMPTE is the organization whose standards work has supported a century of technological advances in entertainment technology.
The recommendation was made today by a committee comprised of Ad-ID, a joint venture of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s); EIDR, an industry association operating a registry of over 1 million unique, global identifiers for digital entertainment assets, including motion pictures, and television content; and The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM), whose members represent leading content owners, large advertisers and media buying agencies. .
The ability to embed standardized identifiers throughout the media ecosystem will have a significant impact on the efficiency of cross-media workflows for ad agencies, media companies, and marketers. It will enable faster reporting for ad verification and audience measurement, which will eventually enable marketers to better optimize live and on-demand advertising in a similar manner as they do with digital advertising today.
Currently, there are many inefficiencies in the linear television audience measurement workflow that can be vastly improved with the ability to immediately identify a piece of content or an ad either in a television set, in a set-top box, or outside of the set through a metering device or smartphone app. This technology can bring both efficiencies and innovation to all these workflows.
The open standard initiative has been called the “UPC code” for media as it will have a similar impact in media as the standardized ID had on improving the accuracy and efficiency of the retail consumer packaged goods industry.
The SMPTE committee conducted rigorous testing in preparation for selecting the candidate for the open standard and will now take this technology to the next stage of standardization.
“The use of standardized identifiers is critical to the advancement of both the advertising and content ecosystems,” says Bob Liodice, CEO of the ANA. “With viewing behavior continually fragmenting, the ability to have an open standard for embedding both Ad-ID and EIDR represents a critical step in bringing marketers the media planning and measurement tools they’ve been demanding.”
“This first advancement for efficiently and reliably binding IDs to media assets via an open standard audio watermark is truly revolutionary,” says Jane Clarke, CEO and managing director, CIMM. “The importance of this to the media industry and its potential for spurring further innovation is a much-needed next step in bringing both content creators and advertisers closer to securing a faster and more accurate view of audience engagement across all devices.”
Kantar Media is a global leader in media intelligence and audience measurement. Its watermarking technology is recognized as pre-eminent in the industry for content detection. It is deployed by hundreds of broadcast networks across the world.
“The adoption of a standardized approach for tagging will mark a breakthrough for the industry,” commented Andy Brown, CEO & Chairman of Kantar Media. “We are delighted to proceed to the next level of review in the standardization process and working with SMPTE as they consider our watermarking technology for approval as the independent standard throughout the media ecosystem.”
About the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers® (SMPTE®)
For more than a century, the people of the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE, pronounced “simp-tee”) have sorted out the details of many significant advances in media and entertainment technology, from the introduction of “talkies” and color television to HD and UHD (4K, 8K) TV. Since its founding in 1916, the Society has received an Oscar® and multiple Emmy® Awards for its work in advancing moving-imagery engineering across the industry. SMPTE has developed thousands of standards, recommended practices, and engineering guidelines, more than 800 of which are currently in force today. SMPTE Time Code™ and the ubiquitous SMPTE Color Bars™ are just two examples of the Society’s notable work. As it enters its second century, the Society is shaping the next generation of standards and providing education for the industry to ensure interoperability as the industry evolves further into IT- and IP-based workflows.
SMPTE’s global membership today includes more than 7,000 members: motion-imaging executives, creatives, technologists, researchers, and students who volunteer their time and expertise to the Society’s standards development and educational initiatives. A partnership with the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) connects SMPTE and its membership with the businesses and individuals who support the creation and finishing of media content. Information on joining SMPTE is available at www.smpte.org/join.
About Ad-ID
Ad-ID is the industry standard for identifying advertising assets across all media platforms. The Web-based system is a central, secure source for the industry’s asset identification information and ensures that all assets are delivered correctly to media and consumers. Ad-ID is a joint venture of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and serves more than 2,000 advertisers of all sizes and most advertising agencies in the United States. For more information visit Ad-ID.org or follow Ad-ID on Twitter @Adidentify.
About EIDR
EIDR (Entertainment ID Registry) is a universal identifier system for movie and television assets built to enable the automation of entertainment commerce and to increase the availability of quality data for analytics. EIDR provides a highly curated database that addresses commercial workflows by uniquely identifying assets ranging from top level titles to edits, digital encodings and franchises. EIDR IDs are already in commercial use in various reporting and measurement applications. For more information about EIDR, please visit eidr.org.
About CIMM
The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) is comprised of leading video content providers, media agencies and advertisers that aim to promote innovation and foster efficiencies in audience measurement for television and cross-platform video. CIMM explores and identifies new methodologies in audience measurement and verifies these approaches through a series of pilot tests and studies conducted with independent measurement companies. CIMM’s primary focus is on two key areas: the current and future potential of television measurement through the use of return-path data, and new methods for cross-platform media measurement. www.cimm-us.org.
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About Kantar Media
Kantar Media is a global leader in media intelligence, providing clients with the data they need to make informed decisions on all aspects of media measurement, monitoring and selection. Part of Kantar, the data investment management arm of WPP, Kantar Media provides the most comprehensive and accurate intelligence on media consumption, performance and value.
For further information, please visit us at www.kantarmedia.com
