Internet Television and GRPS

Whenever I hear buzz about a new evolution in online marketing or media technologies changing the digital landscape (ultimately followed by a predictive timeline of some sort), I always multiply that number by 3. Not only does it always seem to take far longer than anybody would predict, but also long after people have even stopped caring or talking about the arrival.

Web TV – or Internet Television – and a supportive ad platform is yet another one of those evolutions.  Now that it is finally here at a mass level, I’m amazed at how little chatter there is in the industry trade publications.

For the last 11 years, there have been countless incarnations of various content distribution and ad models supporting the long-awaited transformation of the broadcast world into the online digital era.  There has always been an industry-wide predictive thought that Internet television would be primarily browser-driven, supported by online video pre-rolls served through an ad server.  The lack of truly integrated internet television devices on the market have been very slow to arrive, leading consumers to take the initiative by hooking up the family PC in the living room to their 50” flat screen to create their own version of Internet television.

From a media perspective, this actually helped reinforce a disposition towards the concept of video ad delivery measurement in terms of a one-to-one ratio.  For every video ad impression served, you reached a single person—which only helped to support the irrelevance of GRP models in the online video landscape.  Until now, the delivery of online video has been viewed primarily as a personal reach mechanism with a focus on laptops, desktops and mobile devices.  Repercussions below the surface actually have had far-reaching implications across media companies.

Networks have found that the one-to-one ratio in ad delivery vs. audience results in tighter ad inventory vs. reach, which ultimately has an impact on video CPMs.  This lack of reach efficiency per ad as an inventory format is a similar issue that print publications have faced as they migrated from the highly efficient delivery vehicles of their magazines and newspapers to the banner ad format on the web.

Digital agencies have found themselves in a greater position to argue for control over broadcast dollars through the adoption of online video delivery systems.  The past and present online video ad delivery technologies really supported this premise since online video evolution had been evolving in such manner that was more supportive of digital agency expertise over traditional media buying agencies.

For large brands, reach and frequency is still often the primary objective. However, since their overall allocation of broadcast dollars to online video is still relatively small, having their digital agency manage their online video buys ultimately makes the most sense due to the necessity for deeper reporting, analytics and optimization.

But as the recent wave of Internet Televisions quietly hit the market during the holiday season, most have done so without being browser-based.  The simple integration of downloadable apps into an Internet-enabled television serve as channels and offer a better user experience than the current method of simply visiting a website through a browser.  The content delivery within those apps are still decidedly being served in the same manner that video is served on media sites, with video ads being tracked by ad servers.  But the integration of Internet Television vs. broadcast television is now starting to feel seamless, complete with a keyboard built into the remote.  The difference in receiving content through a web connection compared to a broadcast or cable television source is quickly becoming irrelevant from an experience standpoint.

The evolution of apps has created an environment which is finally supportive of on-demand Internet television, which not only offers the potential reach of regular broadcast television but ultimately could be indiscernible.  It is probably safe to say that in the near future (multiplied by 3), advertisers will have their spots delivered through both broadcast and online/mobile mediums as a single entity.

Dare I say, online GRPs finally make sense in this respect and may even take on a greater value for brands.  The proliferation of one-to-one devices combined with households will ultimately have an impact on broadcast ratings, but at the same time, many broadcasters may actually find that they have increased inventory to help offset this.

Since broadcast dollars are still the single largest revenue opportunity for agencies, the incentive for digital and traditional agencies to evolve into a singular entity will take on a much greater emphasis over the next several years.  Multiplied by 3, of course.

From large Fortune 500 brands to local advertisers, this could very likely herald a new and exciting time in the world of paid media as greater interactivity and delivery of the often beaten down :30 spot spurns interest not seen in quite some time.  My only hope is that I am never asked to base click-thru rates off of GRPs instead of impressions – otherwise I may have start multiplying them by 3.