The Future of TV Measurement: Navigating Change in a Dynamic Landscape
Explaining TV Measurement to a 10-Year-Old
Imagine explaining to a child how we measure TV today. TV measurement today is like trying to count candy in a jar that keeps changing shape. Once upon a time, we relied on special logs or boxes to track what people watched on traditional televisions. Now, people consume content on phones, tablets, smart TVs — in live, delayed, streamed, or downloaded formats. The diversity of viewing behaviors makes measurement a moving target.
To keep up, companies are deploying advanced technologies to count how many people are watching and their preferences. But even with these tools, the process remains complex. Measurement is improving regularly, but simplicity is still elusive.
“TV measurement today is like trying to count candy in a jar that keeps changing shape”.
Redefining TV in a Fragmented Ecosystem
TV today is defined as professionally produced, long-form content that's emotionally engaging and brand-safe, available across various platforms. TV is no longer just linear broadcast. It spans cable, connected TV (CTV), streaming platforms, and on-demand services. Audiences engage with premium content across all these TV types, and this has transformed TV from a broad-reach medium into one capable of precision, flexibility, and accountability.
Many marketers are now applying digital-first strategies like programmatic buying and audience-based targeting to TV. These approaches bring greater targeting capabilities and with that, speed to insight, cross-channel attribution, and granular performance metrics that were once exclusive to digital.
Beyond Age and Gender: The Rise of Advanced Audiences
Traditional measurement based on age and gender still has a place—especially for broad awareness campaigns or categories where demographics align with product usage. But in verticals like healthcare, this approach falls short.
At IQVIA Digital, we prioritize outcomes-based measurement. Whether targeting healthcare professionals or consumers, we need to understand the real-world impact of campaigns. Age and gender alone don’t reflect the complexity of these audiences. Measurement rooted in granular, data driven decisioning unlocks smarter choices across planning, buying, activation, and optimization.
"TV has shifted from a broad-reach channel to one that delivers precision, flexibility, and accountability.”
Identity: The Connective Tissue of Modern Measurement
Identity is foundational to accurate targeting and measurement. In a privacy-first world, having a robust identity framework is essential. This involves integrating multiple signals across platforms to ensure comprehensive approaches are taking place to reach and measure audiences across whatever TV format they may be engaging with.
The idea of a single identifier across platforms is appealing—but unrealistic in today’s diverse ecosystem.
Instead, we need flexible identity frameworks that integrate multiple signals across campaigns. This means collaborating with stakeholders across publishers and platforms, accommodating different identity formats, and building holistic omni-signal capabilities.
"This means collaborating with stakeholders across publishers and platforms, accommodating different identity formats, and building holistic omni-signal capabilities.”
Outcomes Matter—But Not Just Sales
Sales are crucial, but focusing solely on them can be limiting. A holistic approach, considering the entire marketing funnel, is essential. Brands should leverage various metrics to better understand campaign effectiveness. This approach allows marketers to reverse-engineer strategies from desired outcomes and optimize in-flight performance using proxy metrics like audience quality and engagement.
Automation and Quality: Finding the Balance
Programmatic systems offer efficiency and precision, but they also introduce challenges around transparency and trust. TV has historically been insulated from issues like traffic fraud, but as programmatic continues its expansion into CTV and premium environments, maintaining quality control becomes essential.
The industry must implement guardrails around fraud prevention and transparency to ensure ads are served to real people in brand-safe environments—with visibility into the full purchase pathway.
The Future: Magic Wand Wishes for TV Measurement
If I had a magic wand, I’d create a world where consumers could signal their preferences—whether they’ve already converted or simply aren’t interested in a product. This opt-in communication would allow marketers to stop serving irrelevant ads, saving resources, and improving consumer experience.
It’s a vision of measurement that’s not just more efficient, but more respectful and engaging for audiences.
"If I had a magic wand, I’d create a world where consumers could signal their preferences—whether they’ve already converted or simply aren’t interested in a product."
Conclusion
TV measurement is evolving rapidly, driven by technological innovation, and shifting consumer behaviors. As the industry evolves, we must embrace complexity, build flexible frameworks, and prioritize outcomes that reflect real-world impact.
As we move forward, the ability to adapt, collaborate, and innovate will define success in TV measurement. The future isn’t just about better data—it’s about smarter decisions, respectful engagement, and meaningful outcomes.
Do you have a question about IQVIA Digital’s data-driven capabilities for measurement? Click here to learn more about Media OS or connect with your sales representative.
