Four media measurement bodies to form global alliance

Brad Bedford, GAMMA

Audience Measurement bodies from four major nations are joining together in an effort to assess the global impact of digital media.

BARC (India), Médiamétrie (France), Numeris (Canada) and Video Research (Japan) announced in a joint statement on Wednesday, May 15 that they will collaborate on future audience measurement initiatives including the development of common technical standards and operational processes.

The bodies, which have come together to form the Global Alliance for the Measurement of Media Audiences (GAMMA), collectively account for more than 1.5 billion people and a combined advertising spend of USD$78 billion (€69 billion) – 15% of the worldwide total.

Veteran audience measurement executive Brad Bedford has been appointed global managing director of GAMMA.

“Audience measurement across the world needs to constantly innovate to keep pace with emerging trends. We at BARC India have always been open to learning from our global counterparts and this international alliance offers a tremendous platform to not only learn from our peers, but also to contribute.” said Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India.

Bruno Chetaille, Chairman and CEO, Médiamétrie added: “As in every other field, audience measurement needs to cater to changing media behaviors. Partnering with Television, Internet and Radio professionals for decades has allowed Mediametrie to develop unique technological and methodological expertise in audience measurement. We’re pleased to share these achievements with our colleagues, via this new alliance, to further accelerate innovation within the industry.”

“This global body will help us leverage knowledge, innovation and audience measurement expertise as a result of more effective discussions with key international players. We are confident that this alliance will be a significant conduit in gaining stronger cooperation towards more consistent, transparent, standardized and interoperable audience measurement,” said Neil McEneaney, president and CEO of Numeris.

“While each market behaves differently and has unique challenges, the single issue common to all audience measurement providers today is the ability to capture complete viewership, irrespective of screen. Innovation and collaboration remain the primary criteria and this expanded global relationship provides a major step towards that end,” added Yuzuru Kato, president and CEO, Video Research Ltd.

Bedford concluded: “There is an ever-increasing demand for cross device measurement internationally and the partnering of these audience measurement companies seeks to facilitate continued movement in that direction. I am truly honoured to represent this effort on a global scale. We are confident GAMMA will be a source of great knowledge sharing and continued learning for the industry.”