The question of whether anyone is watching streaming television — and, if so, whether they are subsequently buying anything — has become one of the industry's more persistent anxieties. Fuse Media, a Latino-owned company based in Los Angeles, is the latest programmer to seek reassurance through third-party validation.
The company announced yesterday that it had named iSpot, a measurement firm based in Bellevue, Wash., as its official provider for tracking advertising performance across its streaming and free ad-supported television properties. The arrangement is meant to help Fuse Media demonstrate to advertisers that commercials running on its channels — which include Billboard Español TV, the comedy-focused LOL! Network and Fluffy TV, named for the comedian Gabriel Iglesias — actually result in people visiting websites or walking into stores.
Fuse Media says it reaches 84 million unique viewers monthly across its various platforms, a figure that, like most streaming audience claims, is difficult to verify independently. (Hence the need for a measurement partner.)
"We're excited to partner with iSpot in order to help Fuse Media drive clear value around CTV and FAST for our advertisers," said Yasmin Mitchell, the company's head of business intelligence and insights, using the industry shorthand for connected television and free ad-supported streaming television. Ms. Mitchell noted that Fuse Media's channels reach "over 85 percent of multicultural homes in the U.S."
Stuart Schwartzapfel, executive vice president for media partnerships at iSpot, offered the sort of diplomatic assessment common to such announcements. "It's no secret that modern buyers and sellers are navigating the most complex and splintered video landscape in media history," Mr. Schwartzapfel said.
That much, at least, requires no third-party validation.
Original story published in Adweek: "FUSE MEDIA TAPS ISPOT AS OFFICIAL MEASUREMENT PROVIDER FOR FAST AND CTV INVENTORY"