Fuse Media Picks iSpot to Measure FAST Outcomes

In the expanding world of streaming, the free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels have had a rough time maximizing ad revenues because measurement has lagged.

In order to get media buyers to pay premium prices for their inventory, programmers need to prove that their channels reach the right audiences and deliver business results.

Fuse Media, the Latino-owned media company, said it has chosen data and analytics company iSpot to measure the performance of ad campaigns by directly linking cross-platform ad exposure to real-world consumer actions, like web site visits or in-store purchases.

In addition to its relationships with leading brands, iSpot already works with many major media companies. Most of them remain largely focused on their linear networks. With Fuse, the key is connected TV, Stuart Schwartzapfel, executive VP of media partnerships at iSpot, told The Measure.

Fuse’s CTV channels include Billboard Español TV, LOL! Network, Fluffy TV, El Rey Rebel and Complex TV.

With iSpot, Fuse will be able to provide advertisers with precise, deduplicated measurement of campaign reach frequency and incrementality against audiences, as well as the closed-loop attribution of results those campaigns generate. Fuse will also have access to iSpot’s in-flight optimization capabilities.

“We’re excited to partner with iSpot in order to help Fuse Media drive clear value around CTV and FAST for our advertisers,” said Yasmin Mitchell, head of business intelligence & insights at Fuse Media. “Our channels reach over 85% of multicultural homes in the U.S., so helping brands not only reach these audiences–who are often tech-savvy, early adopters–but convert ad messages into consumer action is a critical opportunity for customers.”

iSpot won the business in a bake-off with other measurement companies, according to iSpot's Schwartzapfel. “We’re starting to form a sweet spot at iSpot in being the go-to choice for media companies looking for a primary CTV measurement provider.”

Schwartzapfel said that most of the research Fuse has done previously has measured its linear channels. “They’re trying to take control of their growth in the CTV and FAST space and they feel they need third-party measurement to do that,” he said. “They need to control the ad sales happening on YouTube and in different FAST environments, and they need to have their sellers doing it, so that they can bring in better margins and more profitable sales.”

iSpot’s data proves to advertisers that their CTV properties are effectively reaching Hispanic audiences. More importantly, that they’re delivering Hispanic audiences in ways other publishers are not and producing business outcomes.

iSpot is using some third-party audience segments from companies including Experian as filters within its own measurement environment to pinpoint Hispanic viewers.

In its system, which has been certified by the Joint Industry Committee on Measurement, iSpot deploys a first-party pixel that allows the company to track programming and advertising wherever it appears and that connects to iSpot’s identity spine. “A lot of care and attention went into the permissioning and the setup for Fuse so that they could tell the story in the way they need to tell it,” Schwartzapfel said.

In addition to using the pixels for attributing web conversions and app installs, it can generate more granular signals from campaigns. That enables Fuse to reach audiences based on their reaction to a campaign, such as people with a higher propensity to convert or those more likely to be incremental.

iSpot is one of a group of tech companies that use big data to measure TV audiences. At one point, it was part of a set of companies competing with Nielsen to provide currency measurement for media buying and selling. But iSpot shifted from currency to focus on outcomes and now CTV.

“We’re focused on the future, which is CTV,” Schwartzapfel said.