Netflix joins OzTAM’s audience measurement ecosystem in streaming transparency milestone

OzTAM, the industry’s provider of the VOZ Total TV currency, has announced that Netflix has joined its audience measurement ecosystem, marking a major milestone in local media measurement transparency and collaboration.

This partnership sees Netflix become the first global streaming platform to have its audience independently measured and reported by OzTAM. It also represents a significant first step in aligning SVOD streaming data with free-to-air (FTA) broadcast TV and BVOD measurement through one standardised currency and common metrics.

Viewing to SVOD platforms will initially be reported via Streamscape, OzTAM’s new total video report. Streamscape combines SVOD viewing, measured by Streaming TV Meters (STVM) across Australia’s people meter panel homes, with broadcast TV and BVOD viewing for a total video picture. STVMs capture all streamed viewing activity across all screens – including connected TVs, smartphones, tablets and computers. Streamscape will allow agencies and marketers to compare viewing across FTA broadcast TV, BVOD and SVOD platforms in a standardised format, empowering more confident media planning and a clearer understanding of how Australians consume video.

OzTAM and Netflix intend to progress to a second phase of the project, which will leverage OzTAM’s comprehensive measurement assets and Netflix’s ad tier census data to enhance VOZ Total TV currency data. The vision is to enable agencies to plan and report across FTA broadcast TV, BVOD, Netflix, and additional streaming partners via a single, unified currency within the existing industry ecosystem. This approach would allow streaming data to appear alongside traditional broadcaster data within audience planning and optimisation tools and ultimately streamline workflows and unlock new strategic opportunities for Total Video planning.

“We’re delighted to welcome Netflix to the OzTAM family,” said OzTAM CEO, Karen Halligan. “The Netflix partnership is a meaningful step towards unified, Total Video measurement. We look forward to delivering rich, accurate, and actionable audience insights to the industry as we continue to build towards converged trading, no matter which screen content is consumed on, or who it is delivered by.

“We would like to extend an invitation to other streaming services in the Australian market to join this measurement initiative and be part of a collaborative and future-facing approach to audience measurement in Australia.”

Heidi Monro, Senior Manager of Advertising Sales at Netflix ANZ, said: “Netflix has led the streaming entertainment industry on viewing transparency for a number of years now, including our Top 10 Weekly lists and Engagement Reports, but we think now is the time to go further in Australia. We’re pleased to be partnering with OzTAM to make a commitment to its trusted measurement of how people watch television in Australia.”

The partnership with Netflix builds on a wave of recent innovations at OzTAM, including transitioning the market to VOZ Total TV as the official trading currency, launching VOZ Streaming, expanding the deployment of Streaming TV Meters in homes, and launching a proof-of-concept (POC) project to explore big data opportunities. Together, these initiatives signal OzTAM’s continued leadership in building a future-proof, advertiser-ready Total Video measurement system.