Mark Frain, the CEO of Foxtel Media, has put up his hand on his role in creating the mess that is media measurement and says this might get worse before it gets better.
At Foxtel’s sharply presented and keenly targeted 2025 Upfront, Frain addressed what he called the elephant in the room -- the breakup, the divorce from industry measurement vehicle OzTAM.
And as the upfront pitch progressed, Frain continued to have a dig at OzTAM, which is owned by the major commercial television broadcasters: the Seven Network, Nine Network and Network Ten.
His main beef with the industry measuring tape -- OzTAM's audience estimates for broadcast TV, BVOD and Total TV -- is that it had failed to accurately measure his platform, Foxtel.
OzTAM last month confirmed that Foxtel would no longer be reported in datasets, including VOZ for Total TV and VPM (video player measurement), from the end of December.
OzTAM CEO Karen Halligan then described as unfortunate Foxtel’s decision to leave the measurement system in favour of exploring an alternative approach.
This was despite of OzTAM presenting Foxtel with several options,
“We believe the industry as a whole is taking a step backward by not working together as a total video industry," she said.
However, Frain had a different take on what happened.
“We were disappointed by OZTam's recent assertion of our unwillingness to collaborate,” he told media buyers and advertisers at the upfront event at the White Bay Power Station in Sydney. .
“While now is not the time for more mudsling. I do feel compelled for my team, our colleagues and our business partners, to say this publicly: We have attempted many times over the last two years to find solutions with OZTam to address inaccuracies with the panel, to drive a more future facing agenda, and to join as a shareholder for an equal voice.
“Unfortunately, the board and the shareholders said ‘No’ and so we moved in a different direction, one more aligned with the consumer shift to on demand viewing, and more aligned to our business shift away from linear to digital.
“And the truth is this, in the last 12 months, Foxtel media has progressed not by going it alone, but through a series of collaborations that are driving our business and our industry forward.”
Foxtel Media announced at its 2023 Upfronts event that it had selected Kantar Media to deliver a new audience measurement service, ingesting data collected from subscribers’ set top boxes using return path data technology.
“It's not always easy; more meetings, more opinions, more compromises,” he said last night.
“But comfort and growth don't often coexist, and leadership choices are always not that popular, but our experience has proved collaboration is bringing greater accuracy, better results, and, more importantly, new opportunities.
“Our partners in advertising with sport codes and entertainment producers are essential to our success and that of our clients. They are not footnotes in our story.
“They are our story, and it's the story five years of successive growth in a market that has seen double digit declines in the recent years, 38% growth in digital revenue, nearly 300 new clients, returning clients spending 29% more in what were tough trading conditions and with new entrants landed locally.
“We are enormously proud of these results, and we thank all of you for your ongoing support.”
Later in the upfront presentation, Frain appeared again
“Measurement today is confounding, it's conflated … in some places, it's even inflated.
“Every day it seems the announcement of big players come up to a different supply, Ipsos, Nielsen One, VOZ or even Kantar.
“We know it's messy. We know we helped create the mess. We suspect it may get worse before it gets any better, but the disruption we caused last year was necessary because our job first and foremost is to get our house in order to make sure our data is accurately measured by a credible organisation that counts things for a living.
“So then when we pass that data to you in full confidence, to do with what you need to bring the data closer to you so you can bring it closer to your clients.
“We didn't pick dodgy brothers, DIY maintenance solutions. We picked global leading Kantar Media.”
Foxtel will launch its new total audience measurement solution by the end of the year to capture and report the viewing habits of 4.8 million subscribers across linear and streaming.
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