3 Comments

Interesting Travis. So you think it will play out much like things are in the display world with cookies going away? as in, everybody races to get as much first party data as they can, and bigger platforms sorta rule even more?

Expand full comment

That's exactly right. I think the user experience and consumer expectation lends itself to a first party relationship with the streaming "app."

Certainly this vary's across age groups. Older demos are less likely to go through the hoops of setting up an account on their phones, using a QR code, or whatever it takes to authenticate into a TV app. But mid and younger demos will have less of a problem with this.

Additionally, you would have to expect that both SVOD and FAST apps will continue to innovate around reducing the friction required to setup a "logged in account."

Today, the audiences that FAST apps feast on are passive audiences that arent nessesarily engaged in what is on screen or people that cant be bothered to authenticate. And yes, there is a "value" to the service being free and ad supported, but they will all run towards a 1P relationship with those consumers.

And yes as you point out, the big guys will build even higher walls and rule larger shares.

The interesting dynamic that exists here and not really in the rest of the digital sphere are the OEMs. You have the likes of Vizio/Inscape claiming they have second by second insights on TV consumption across 22 million televisions. That's MASSIVE.

The OEM's can see every single frame of video that hits the glass and attribute it back to the source, program, etc. All thanks to things like ACR.

Combine that level of comprehensive ability to monitor video consumption on the glass with an email address...whew...now we're talking.

Expand full comment

Can't say I agree. There may be a dip in third party measurement and targing but it will end more in a check mark shape growth curve.

The vast majority of streaming apps require login. They'll be fine. Seller defined audiences etc.

Every TV set on the market relentlessly attempts to get users to create and log into an OEM CTV account. I'd challenge you to find one that doesn't.

Consequently, the growth of users that do have a first party relationship with their television is growing exponentially. It is part of the workflow to even get your TV on the wifi in your home for most TV operating systems.

I'd argue that identity and household meta data is richer in the CTV space than anywhere on the web.

The legacy vendors like Nielsen etc are the ones that need to make a move. Identity mapping the panel back to a logged in audience via a clean room is not that difficult at all. The only thing standing in the way are business leaders and lawyers.

Expand full comment