Kantar Media and comScore Announce First Joint Offering for Cross-Media Audience Measurement

LONDON, April 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Integrated Measurement Approach will deliver faster, smarter solutions for advertisers and broadcasters 

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ : SCOR) and Kantar Media today announced that they are introducing their first joint offering for cross-media audience measurement to key clients. The announcement was unveiled at a joint industry roundtable in San Sebastian, home to the 2015 I-COM Summit. This is the first outcome of the Kantar and comScore strategic alliance announced earlier this year to provide world class cross-media audience and campaign measurement capabilities to markets around the world.

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Bringing together the leading experts on TV and internet audience measurement, both companies have defined a roadmap together that addresses a range of reporting scopes and the options of available measurement assets and techniques, including panels, meters, tagging, home routers, return path data and census profiles.

There has been significant interest in the partnership from clients and industry committees around the world. Based on this feedback, Spain has been identified as the pilot market with initial findings expected later this year, and other markets to follow.

"As advertising spend on integrated cross-media campaigns increases, there is a growing demand for solutions that bring together TV and internet audience measurement to provide cross-media reach & frequency," said Andy Brown, CEO & Chairman of Kantar Media. "We are pleased at the progress our research and technical teams have made in combining different measurement techniques and designing a common approach. Cross-media measurement solutions must be responsive to local needs so we have designed a framework that maximizes the use of existing data sets and commercial considerations in any given market."

Serge Matta, CEO of comScore, added, "We are delivering on our promise to simplify the deployment of global measurement capabilities and accelerate the creation of new services for the industry. The customer response to our partnership was extremely positive, as the market is eager to see cross-media measurement for both audiences and campaigns."

The defined scopes of reporting for an integrated measurement approach in addition to core broadcast TV include:

• Extended TV - content broadcast in simulcast or on-demand on smartphones, tablets desktops and OTT devices.
• Total Video - all video content from online platforms whether broadcast video or not, such as YouTube.
• Total View - all online content whether video or text based, accessed via a browser or app, on smartphones, tablets desktops and OTT devices.

Total View brings together gold-standard TV measurement and multi-platform online measurement for a complete view of viewers' media usage on TV and online.

ComScore and Kantar are committed to working with clients to ensure that these new tools complement and enhance industry audience data in each market. 

In response to the needs of broadcasters, content owners and publishers to reduce the operational overhead of measurement, comScore and Kantar Media have developed an integrated tagging approach for web, video, and application measurement, allowing seamless data sharing with explicit client permission but without requiring duplication of implementations. Both companies will continue to support any tagging deployments under existing contracts. The option to move to an integrated approach would be a decision for the relevant joint industry committee or user group.

About comScore  

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in digital measurement and analytics, delivering insights on web, mobile and TV consumer behavior that enable clients to maximize the value of their digital investments. For more information, please visit http://www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

About Kantar Media 

Kantar Media provides critical information that helps our clients make better decisions about communications. We enable the world's leading brands, publishers, agencies and industry bodies to navigate and succeed in a rapidly evolving media industry. Our services and data include analysis of paid media opportunities; counsel on brand reputation, corporate management and consumer engagement through owned media; and evaluating consumers' reactions in earned media. As the global house of expertise in media and marketing information, Kantar Media provides clients with a broad range of insights, from audience research, competitive intelligence, vital consumer behaviour and digital insights, marketing and advertising effectiveness to social media monitoring. Our experts currently work with 22,000 companies tracking over 4 million brands in 50 countries.

Kantar Media is part of Kantar, the data investment management division of WPP. For more information visit http://www.kantarmedia.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including, but not limited to, expectations regarding the impact and benefits of impact of the strategic alliance between comScore and Kantar to comScore, financial or otherwise. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to: the features and characteristics of the products, the rate of development of the digital marketing intelligence, Internet advertising and e-Commerce markets; the growth of the Internet as a medium for commerce, content, advertising and communications; and the acceptance of new products and methodologies by the industry, including existing and prospective clients.

For a detailed discussion of these and other risk factors, please refer to comScore's most recent respective Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Annual Reports on Form 10-K and from time to time other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available on the SEC's Web site (http://www.sec.gov).

Stockholders of comScore are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date such statements are made. comScore does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or new information after the date of this press release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE comScore, Inc. and Kantar Media