Nielsen rival Samba TV divests ad sales to focus on measurement
Samba sells its ad sales division to MiQ as it looks to sidestep conflicts with its measurement efforts.
Fransebas
Samba TV is divesting its managed ad sales business to programmatic platform MiQ under a multi-year agreement that aims to focus Samba squarely on measurement and eliminate conflicts of interest between its ad sales effort and audience measurement.
Under the deal, Samba TV will become an MiQ measurement provider, and MiQ will become Samba TV’s preferred managed service provider in the U.S., the companies announced. Samba under the deal will move its entire managed service business and staff to MiQ.
Samba and MiQ executives declined to disclose terms of the deal, but a person familiar with the matter said Samba will receive around $100 million in payments.
“By combining our programmaitic media expertise with their media services business, we will give our clients unmatched advanced TV data access and bridge TV investment into full omnichannel treatment in ways they never could before," MiQ Co-Founder and Global Executive Chairman Gurman Hundal said in a statement.
The deal helps position Samba as the only pure-play measurement provider, aside from Nielsen, with direct consumer panel and data relationships. Samba has a panel of 3 million opted-in households from a device set of 50 million, said CEO and Co-Founder Ashwin Navin. Other competitors, such as VideoAmp, Comscore and iSpot.tv, contract with cable providers, brokers or equipment manufacturers for outside data from cable set-top boxes and smart TVs.
“This is an extremely positive move for Samba TV,” said Mike Bregman, chief data officer of Havas Media, in a statement. Havas became the first agency holding company to incorporate Samba into its measurement and insights systems last year.
“We appreciate Samba’s increased focus on their core data and measurement products,” Bregman said. “Samba’s move to eliminate any potential media sales conflicts makes a lot of sense.”
In an interview prior to the announcement, Navin said this week’s announcement of a Joint Industry Committee to set standards and certify measurement providers for streaming video provide an opening, particularly for Samba, in measurement, because of its direct access to data.
“The industry is rapidly challenging that legacy [Nielsen] monopoly, but with a ton of risk,” Navin said. “You can’t really build a great currency product on other people’s data. Regulators are taking a hard look at what is the path for consent for the consumer and what's the chain of custody of the data?”
Samba TV last week announced a research and development partnership with TCL to build TVs powered by artificial intelligence, including a model showcased at CES with a front-facing camera that lets people control the TV and games using hand gestures. That same camera and AI also could play a role in helping Samba track—among people who opt in—which household members are watching programming at any given time, helping solve problems other measurement rivals overcome using devices distributed and plugged separately into TVs.
