What you need to know:

• TV's BVOD measurement tool struggled to cope with a surge in audiences as the Olympics kicked off.
• OzTAM's VPM collection system had to be rebuilt, but CEO Doug Peiffer said streaming data has not been lost.
• Agencies have voiced concerns over inconsistent linear ratings and are frustrated by delays.
• OzTAM CEO Doug Peiffer said linear issues are primarily due to changes to regional and metro TAM, with the business reassessing the methodology to align these figures with VOZ data.

High jumps and hurdles

Millions of hours of Olympics streaming has broken records and crunched OzTam’s BVOD measurement collection tool, leaving its engineers scrambling to rapidly rebuild the processing system.

Despite the first four days of the games averaging out to over 270 million minutes or 4.5 million hours streamed a day as lockdowns fuel audiences, CEO Doug Peiffer said his team managed to overhaul the system, deliver the numbers and feed back into VOZ the next day under pressure from Seven, with the network keen to tout huge audience gains.

Peiffer said crucially no data was lost and the rebuild means the VPM system – which collects BVOD minutes – can now handle massive audience swings.

“The first day of The Olympics saw audiences jump 50 per cent on the prior day and the second day was up 30 per cent on top of that,” he told Mi3. “Our guys did a great job, because the numbers were out that night and back into VOZ the next day.”

Peiffer clarified that last week’s TV ratings delay was unrelated, due to an “isolated processing issue” in Melbourne that affected delivery of TV numbers for 29 July.

Red flags

While teething issues occur in any systems change, media agencies told Mi3 it was another red flag in the early stages of VOZ's wider use, making it harder to convince clients of VOZ's value. 

Concerns were also raised over inconsistent daily ratings for linear TV audiences. One buyer told Mi3 that the overnight ratings for some linear campaign reports were returning reach figures almost double what they were meant to be when looking at VOZ data – although OzTAM dismissed those claims as “not possible” as agencies are only just beginning to onboard VOZ software and therefore would not yet have been able to assess reach.

"We've been told by OzTAM not to use VOZ as the new trading currency yet and it makes sense when you've got things like this cropping up already," added the agency exec.

This was confirmed by Peiffer, with OzTAM now reassessing the current national linear and BVOD methodology when it comes to matching the audiences with VOZ data. However, VOZ will not replace the current TV trading currency at this stage.

“VOZ longitudinal – in other words, reach over time – is being refined: something that relates to bringing the three different TAM databases (OzTAM, Regional TAM and national subscription TV) together alongside VPM (BVOD). OzTAM has been very communicative with agencies about this, and [this is] part of the reason why OzTAM wants them to start working with VOZ data as soon as possible and provide their feedback,” said Peiffer, adding that OzTAM remains in "constant contact" with agencies to fix issues as they occur.

"The current databases that we have in market, OzTAM, RegionalTAM and subscription TV which were agreed upon before VOZ came out will continue to be what the industry trades on for now," Peiffer added.

"Those databases fit into the current buying and planning systems agencies have but we'll spend the next three to four months working with them and software providers to introduce the VOZ.

"The issue we are seeing with reach comes back to how we are establishing the overnight linear ratings, because in VOZ they are measured together rather than as metro and regional, which is causing the methodology problem when trying to match existing currency numbers."  

He added that VOZ also includes a new ‘rest of Australia’ coverage area, which falls outside OzTAM and Regional TAM coverage areas.

Shifts happen

But after waiting a long time for VOZ to land, some buyers are becoming frustrated that its promised post-reporting capabilities remain to be fully enabled.

"The most exciting part about VOZ has been the possibilities it offers in the post-planning stages of any cross-screen campaign," another buyer told Mi3.

"All agencies have planning tools that can be used similar to what VOZ is offering, that's nothing new, so hopefully we can get through this current stage quickly and actually use it as intended – the new currency for TV." 

Acknowledging delays, Peiffer said OzTAM said current lockdown restrictions have not helped, with “dozens of people on Zoom calls” and remote IT staff making onboarding more challenging.

Equally, he said that covid is also “dramatically” affecting viewing patterns – with fewer people streaming on phones on daily commutes, and more people watching TVs at home, “so there is a lot to work through.”

This story has been amended due to substantive factual errors.