The punch has softened from Foxtel Media’s Upfronts pledge five months ago to bring an alternative audience measurement currency to market for streaming and online video platforms.

Instead, a ‘think tank’ of leading video and streaming players aims to build consensus around unified video standards and definitions – with major media buying consortia brought in from the get-go to ensure key stakeholders are aligned.

From there, a new measurement currency or wider alliance could be formed, armed with market-developed standards. But it is a more pragmatic approach from the delicate alliance of fiercely-competitive, new-world media operatives galvanised chiefly by the allure of landing a bigger share of digital ad budgets by working together.

US measurement firm VideoAmp, touted five months ago as the spearhead for an alternative measurement system to OzTam, is not part of the Video Future Collective's announcement, possibly because of the early focus on developing unified standards ahead of any new measurement system.

Most of the big names in streaming and online video have joined the Video Futures Collective – Amazon and Netflix are notable exceptions although Amazon has been in market meeting agency groups with Video Futures Collective members. The commerce and entertainment juggernaut is expected to join officially in the near term. Netflix is also said to be supporting the initiative but unlikely to align officially this year. 

On the buy side, Omnicom Media Group [OMG] and Mediabrands’ Magna are early public backers of the think tank but all the holding companies and key independent agencies have been engaged. “We welcome any initiative that can help cut through the noise and bring media companies together to explore key issues like measurement, attention and reach,” said Magna National Managing director, Lucy Formosa Morgan.

Formosa Morgan and OMG’s Chief Investment Officer, Kristiaan Kroon, both pointed to increasing fragmentation and complexity in the media sector as a key challenge for media agencies and advertisers. “Think tanks provide research, advocacy and we hope in this instance, recommendations for greater standardisation and simplicity to benefit advertisers.”

YouTube joining the Video Futures Collective is telling – it has been fiercely resistant to give ground on any of its own core audience measurement and reporting methodologies with TV broadcasters in the past, as have they. Similar challenges will face the new think tank where all players will need to compromise if a unified set of standards and definitions is to transpire.

“That is the exploration,” said Foxtel Media CEO Mark Frain. “We’re certainly not going to over-promise. I do think there’s a way forward. There’s a way forward because clients want us to find a way forward. From the outset of this, we’ve been consulting with them and we will continue to do so. Whether there be tension on metrics across the players mentioned or on some kind of research alignment, the feedback from clients is doing something together will be a step forward for the industry.”

YouTube’s Head of Ads and Programmatic, Caroline Oates, said a joint industry initiative like the Video Futures Collective was overdue. “Despite years of convergence between digital and linear video, there is still yet to be a single place where video streaming providers align to discuss the issues and opportunities facing the industry. While we are competitors, a transparent and collective think tank that identifies issues that require industry buy-in and collaboration can play an important role in driving the entire industry forward.”

SBS Director of Media Sales, Adam Sadler, concurred with Frain and Oates while staking the broadcaster’s support for OzTam. “We see this move as complimentary to our ongoing support of the existing industry currency,” he said.

When asked whether the new think tank would further polarise the broadcast and streaming players, Frain said: “I don’t think so. We’re doing this with a very open mind and guiding principles. This is not the start of us and them. This is the start of the evolution towards the future in media. We haven't had the discussion with these players before. That's the really exciting part. There's plenty of gaps and as a collective I think we can start to solve a few of them.”

What next

With big names now officially on board, the collective said the plan is to focus on three priority areas across short, medium and longer timeframes.

First priority is to attempt to build consensus on streaming basics – naming conventions, definitions and best practice, plus training and eduction. 

Second it will look at what to measure alongside traditional reach and frequency metrics – with attention metrics in scope – plus collaboration on industry-wide case studies.

Third priority areas include how to integrate more closely with agencies around planning and buying – a crucial step given the hesitance of some groups to adopt new systems alongside their own proprietary tools.