Measurement
State of Play
Revised Nov 1, 2026The moment. The count changed what it counts. Comscore’s new Score Report ranks TV and streaming by share of ad-exposure time rather than viewing, and its first reading puts broadcast at 43.2%, cable at 34.5% and streaming at 22.3%. VideoWeek has NBCUniversal and Versant leading the August table at 17.5%, with a merged Paramount-WBD set to top it at 23.9%. iSpot’s Q3 report has streaming splitting ad revenue evenly with linear even though linear still delivers the vast majority of impressions, which is the same gap seen from the money side. Political money is the other pressure on the count: forecasters now project $12 billion for the 2025–26 midterm cycle, with local broadcast holding 50% of the $11.038 billion spent cycle-to-date against CTV’s 21%, and eMarketer has that spending crowding holiday marketers out of TV and CTV inventory.
The tension. Buyers want more precision from a surface that shows them less. Nielsen found 55% of marketers trust AI-generated recommendations only when a human verifies them, and says the share prioritizing measurement precision has doubled year over year. AdExchanger’s guest column argues B2B buying has moved into AI assistants, private messages and dark social that ad tech cannot observe. Extreme Reach’s John Batter says the industry still has no creative ID to tie ad variants to masters or production cost to outcome, and AI is multiplying the variants. The platforms are supplying the proof themselves: OpenAI’s Ads Manager now imports 30 days of aggregate Google Analytics 4 data so advertisers can run attribution comparisons inside it, and a six-month WPP Media study with Amazon Ads is the evidence offered that streaming moves sales. TVREV’s Sofie Sue Rutgeerts argues attention is a middle step, not the outcome. The sell side keeps answering the measurement question with its own numbers.
Who’s moving. Comscore, counting ad exposure instead of viewing. Comscore again, reporting Q3 results on November 3. iSpot and TVREV’s Jason Damata, on revenue parity at a fraction of the impressions. Extreme Reach’s John Batter, on the missing creative ID. OpenAI, wiring GA4 into its own ads manager. MediaPost’s Joe Mandese, on $12 billion and CTV’s 21%. eMarketer’s Marisa Jones, on political crowding out the holidays. Truthset and Aristotle, verifying identity on political CTV buys. Databricks, pitching prediction over impressions. Nielsen, with streaming at 58% of minutes for the top animated series. eMarketer’s Asa Hiken, on CTV conversion rates rising. Nielsen again, confirming a WNBA Finals Game 1 record of 1.76 million viewers.
What the desk is watching. Whether buyers start pricing on Comscore’s exposure share rather than viewing share, and whether the November 3 call puts revenue behind the new report.
Chipotle’s all-creator TV ads show which unscripted moments convert
The Measure’s Eleanor Semeraro reports that Chipotle used 100 creators with no brand direction to shoot two national TV spots, and iSpot’s SAGE found Chili Lime Chips beat Pollo Asado on likeability (720 vs. 671) and purchase intent (74% vs. 64%).
iSpot CEO: agentic ad AI is only as good as the measurement under it
Sean Muller argues agentic advertising needs trusted measurement before AI models, since automated decisions on allocation, audience and creative are worthless without reliable data underneath. He says AI workflows will become commoditized, making data quality the real differentiator.
Branded entertainment still measures a monoculture that no longer exists
TVREV’s Emanuele Landi reports that a WFA/Lumency study of $8.2 billion in sponsorship spend finds 84% track awareness, but advocacy tracking fell to just 6%, from 15% two years earlier, even as fragmentation makes community loyalty the metric that actually counts.
Kalshi cracks top 3 in sports betting TV ad spend
The Measure reports that iSpot data shows prediction market Kalshi ranks No. 3 in estimated national TV ad spend among sports betting brands this year, trailing only two traditional sportsbooks despite not running a typical sportsbook ad playbook.
IPA: Brits now consume 44% of commercial media alone
ExchangeWire’s Sheila Obeng-King reports that new IPA TouchPoints data shows British adults spend 44% of commercial media time alone, up 10% since 2015, with 16-34s at 46%. Smartphones now match TV for total commercial media time among UK adults.
Can AI predict which ads will actually work?
System1’s Andrew Tindall pits AI creative testing against human panels across ten major ads, checking whether machine scores match established effectiveness benchmarks.
EDO: NFL ads outperformed typical primetime spots 73-to-1 last season
The Drum’s Margo Waldrop reports that EDO analyzed every national TV ad aired during the 2025-26 NFL regular season and found the average NFL spot drove the same consumer-behavior impact as 73 typical primetime ads, up 15% year over year.
Ipsos exec: culture can’t be reduced to a single metric
In Ad Age’s Data Unfiltered series, Ipsos’ Janelle A. James argues culture resists standard measurement and requires context, pointing to emerging, influential segments like Gen Z as “vibrant fringes” that defy neat categorization.
Bartiromo’s Fox exit tracks a ratings and ad slide, not just politics
Variety’s Brian Steinberg reports that Fox News parted ways with Maria Bartiromo last week, citing a “business decision,” after her programs lost ground to CNBC’s “Squawk Box” among viewers and advertisers.
Nielsen names ex-Netflix ad sales chief Peter Naylor as first Chief Client Officer
Inside Radio reports that Nielsen appointed Peter Naylor as its first Chief Client Officer, reporting to CEO Karthik Rao, to work with sales, product and research teams on client needs.
Comscore adds measurement for sponsored ads inside AI chat
Comscore’s AI Intelligence now measures sponsored chat-based advertising in tools like ChatGPT, tracking how paid placements affect traffic and behavior. Early travel-category data shows sponsored-ad presence in hotel prompts jumped from 6% in March 2026 to 24% in May.
LoopMe brand lift measurement integrates into The Trade Desk
LoopMe added its Brand Lift measurement to The Trade Desk’s Measurement Marketplace, letting advertisers launch studies and get results inside their existing dashboard without separate logins or accounts.
Dentsu buy-side lead: CTV is underrated as a performance channel, not just brand
VideoWeek’s Dan Meier reports that Dentsu’s Head of AV Trading James Wilby argues advertisers view premium video and CTV too narrowly through a brand-building lens. With the right cost structures and metrics, he says, the same inventory can prove short-term sales impact too.
Glance adds Mexico’s official TV audience data via ACAM tie-up
Glance has partnered with ACAM, Mexico’s official TV audience measurement body, adding its dataset to Glance’s international linear TV analysis. ACAM’s panel covers 78 percent of Mexico’s urban population and is expanding toward 3,500 households and 7,200 individuals.
NALIP taps Parrot Analytics to score audience demand for 2026 honorees
TheWrap’s Lucas Manfredi reports that NALIP is partnering with Parrot Analytics to evaluate 2026 award nominees using audience demand data, not just critical buzz.
Gracenote: viewers want sports schedules on TV home screens
The Measure’s Jon Lafayette reports that a new Gracenote report, Home Screen Advantage, finds 26% of viewers say they can’t always find games on TV, and 85% want their set’s first screen to show upcoming games for favorite teams and leagues with how-to-watch info.
Nielsen launches local college football fandom index, tops with Birmingham
Nielsen expands its Scarborough Fandom Index franchise to college football, ranking local markets on eight engagement metrics. Birmingham, Des Moines/Ames, Columbus, Omaha and Knoxville top the list, led by mid-size markets near flagship programs.
ABC, NBC evening newscasts gain viewers and demo for week of Aug. 24
Adweek’s Mark Mwachiro reports that ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.731 million viewers and 1.219 million in the Adults 25-54 demo, its best demo week since January 2025.
Pangram CEO: internet is ‘dangerously close’ to dead internet theory
TechCrunch’s Rebecca Bellan and Theresa Loconsolo report that Pangram co-founder Max Spero says AI text and images now flood job applications, reviews, and insurance claims, not just social feeds.
CTV should chase causal proof, not attribution, argues new column
AdExchanger’s AdExchanger Guest reports that a Central Control opinion piece argues CTV cannot out-attribute Google, Meta or retail media, which own closed-loop conversion data.
IAB Australia review: measurement’s real gap is data, not methods
IAB Australia’s Future of Measurement review finds confidence high within individual channels but low on advertising’s collective impact, with respondents naming shared, standardized campaign data as the fix, not new measurement methods.
News programming led pharma drug TV ad spend in H1
eMarketer’s Beth Snyder Bulik reports that Prescription drug marketers directed the largest share of their TV ad dollars to news programming in the first half of the year, according to EMARKETER.
SAGE data: FanDuel’s NFL ads split hard by viewer age
The Measure’s Eleanor Semeraro reports that iSpot’s SAGE analyzed FanDuel’s 2025-26 NFL creative and found the top five ads scored well above the brand’s all-time Likeability average of 516, but reception diverged sharply by age group.
Nielsen tightens local TV currency with four methodology upgrades
Advanced Television reports that Nielsen has activated four local TV methodology changes into its currency data ahead of the 2026/2027 broadcast season.
FreeWheel adds Truthset data ratings to its ad buying platform
FreeWheel is integrating Truthset’s audience data evaluations into its programmatic advertising platform for connected TV. The move lets advertisers configure data accuracy at the point of buying rather than checking quality after impressions are already delivered.