Comscore expands Pulse TV measurement to all media markets

Comscore is rolling out an expanded version of its TV Pulse offering that will give both marketers and networks 48-hour TV measurement in all 210 media markets.

Why it matters: Comscore is one of many alternatives to Nielsen that is trying to edge into the marketplace and be more than a secondary measurement provider.

• While tens of millions to hundreds of millions of ad dollars are transacted using Comscore and other non-Nielsen currencies, "it's a drop in the bucket when you think of the entire upfront," Comscore chief revenue officer Carol Hinnant tells Axios.
• Upfront advertising accounts for anywhere between 25%-27% of the more than $70 billion that is spent on TV advertising each year.

The big picture: Shrinking linear TV audiences mean that ad buyers need more data than ever before to make the best use of their money — ditto for the networks that need to sell commercial time.

• Getting TV measurements from every media market can take more than a week, Hinnant says. Data like this was previously available for the top 60 markets.
• "It's not overnight data, but it's the next best thing," Hinannt says. "The fact that it's calibrated to the final-day data is enormous because there are lots of datasets that you can get a quick read — maybe within four hours you can be seeing information — but it's not calibrated to final data and it's not true viewing consumption."

Catch up quick: Last week, Comscore signed on with Warner Bros. Discovery to be one of its two non-Nielsen currency providers for the coming upfront season, alongside VideoAmp.

• Fox's ad-supported streaming service Tubi also announced last week that Comscore data will be used to help measure ad campaigns.

The bottom line: "The sell side is very collaboratively going to the marketplace and saying we are a multi-currency industry now," Hinnant says.