The Business Of Data With Jon Lafayette: Outcomes, Good and Not So Good
There is good data and bad data. And data can be used properly or misused. In the best cases, data helps make better decisions and improves the lives of viewers and consumers. Bad data can mislead. This week we saw examples of both, emphasizing the importance of integrity, accuracy and transparency in the business.
DirecTV Forges Tighter Link with LiveRamp Outcome Data
We’re ‘giving brands a more complete, real-time view of how our premium video inventory drives performance across our platform,’ said DirecTV’s Amy Leifer
The race to prove that business outcomes are being delivered is the advertising industry’s new gold rush.
Other measures, such as impressions, reach and frequency, attention, and content quality and context remain important factors, but the shiniest object going into this upfront market is results. That could be signups, subscriptions, download or sales, whatever best translates to revenue and profit.
Many data providers are looking to provide outcomes data that advertisers can use to plan and evaluate their marketing plans.
Going into the upfront, DirecTV says it has expanded its relationship with the data company LiveRamp. As part of the new arrangement, DirecTV is integrating with Conversions API Hub on LiveRamp’s advertising platform. The integration makes DirecTV Advertising the first multichannel video programming with that type of direct link. [READ MORE]
Nielsen Gets Complaints for Releasing Monthly Data Using Discredited Formula After Delay
In a baffling decision, Nielsen chose to distribute viewing data it knows it will revise in the next few months. It could have released more correct data in the first place right now. Instead, it will wait till the fall – after upfront buying and selling is done – to fix the numbers.
Sean Cunningham, CEO of the VAB, which represents most of the linear TV networks, called the move an “indefensible manipulation” because the old numbers favor streaming, while the correct numbers boost broadcast and cable.
The data in question is Nielsen’s monthly report on the share of viewing that goes to broadcast, cable and streaming services. When Nielsen reported that streaming usage topped broadcast and cable combined in May 2025, it was big news. [READ MORE]
StackAdapt Ups Programmatic Sports Game
At the same time more sports programming is shifting to streaming, more sports commercial inventory is being made available to programmatic buyers.
This opens the door to smaller advertisers, sponsors that want to focus on specific target audiences and last-minute buyers.
Buying sports inventory is not what most programmatic platforms were built to do, so StackAdapt says it has launched a Live Events campaign workflow designed to help advertisers activate and manage live sports campaigns on connected TV. [READ MORE]
With Sub Fees Rising, Streamers More Willing to Accept Commercials, Survey Finds
As someone who has written about the advertising business for too many decades, it is probably a good thing that television has not turned into a commercial-free nirvana.
Part of Netflix’s remarkable initial growth was fueled by the promise of not having to watch ads, along with a low monthly subscription price.
Other streamers followed that model, but they soon found out that that formula did not produce prodigious profits. [READ MORE]
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