Finland at the forefront of development: New Total TV advertising measurement to benefit the market

The ways of consuming TV content are diversifying, and people are watching increasingly more streaming services. This means that advertising measurement must also develop. The new Total TV advertising* measurement provides the buyers and sellers of advertising a comprehensive view into the results of TV and streaming service advertising campaigns. Standardised measurement, transparency and reliability also enable the use of measurement as the currency of advertising.

The Finnish commercial TV companies MTV Oy and Sanoma Media Finland Oy have signed an agreement with dataBreeders, a company specialised in media analytics, that enables the use of Total TV currency in Finland as one of the first countries in the world already during 2023. The campaign measurement of TV and streaming service advertising provides the long-needed indicators for advertising viewed in the different distribution methods.

In Finland, the Total TV advertising measurement project was launched in 2020, and the development project has been guided by Screenforce Finland. The experts of Pure X Media’s viewer measurement have also acted as an important support.In the future, the development of Total TV advertising measurement will be guided by a cooperative body combining the commercial TV channels of Finland (MTV, Sanoma and Warner Bros. Discovery). Within a commonly established framework, it is also possible for other operators in the TV and streaming service advertising sector to join in. 

“It’s wonderful that Finland is acting as a pioneer by implementing the advertising measurement project all to way to the currency. It is important to establish standardised indicators all the way to the campaign level so that the advertising customer can make use of these,”  says Tuomas Airisto, Chief Commercial Officer (B2B) at Sanoma.

“Total TV advertising has been shown to be the most impactful form of advertising that creates the most growth. We are already providing these kinds of solutions to advertisers, and people already know how to utilise them. MTV is very committed to developing Total TV measurement in the future as well,” says Sauli Asikainen, Vice President, B2B & Marketing at MTV.

“Standardised currency brings the desired transparency to the market, and we are extremely proud of this development. As our company is currently undergoing an internal transition period due to the merger, we will join the development at a later stage,” explains Elina Valtia, VP Ad Sales & Operations at Warner Bros. Discovery.

In Finland, the content viewer measurement of Total TV has been in use for five years already, whereas television and streaming service advertising are still measured separately. The new Total TV advertising measurement combines different sources of information, the TV audience measurement survey of Finnpanel Oy and the advertising data of TV companies’ streaming services. The results include standardised contacts, reachability as well as replays of the channels and services’ advertising content. The development project demonstrated that the advertising data and TV measurement survey data of Finnish television companies is extremely high in quality.

“Advertising measurement must be of the highest quality: transparent, reliable and homogenous. Thanks to partners like Finnpanel, this is possible. It’s wonderful that we are able to introduce Total TV advertising measurement and the potential currency to Finland among the first countries in the world,” Executive Director of Screenforce Finland Anna Lujanen says.

“We want to thank the TV companies, Screenforce Finland, Finnpanel and Pure X Media for the excellent cooperation. Together we have built a concept that utilises the data of TV surveys and streaming service advertising.During 2023, our partnership will introduce a top-quality system to the Finnish market that indicates the efficiency of streaming service and TV advertising on different platforms,” CEO of dataBreeders Andrea Mezzasalma explains.

Screenforce Finland has four member TV companies and represents more than 16 TV channels, representing almost 100 per cent of Finnish commercial TV operators and corresponding to a total of MEUR 260 of advertising revenue (2021).

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* Total TV refers to video content of TV channels and streaming services on different devices.