Local television station owners including Gray Television, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Hearst Television, Tegna and the E.W. Scripps Co. have invested in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, whose Run3TV platform can provide detailed data about over-the-air broadcast viewership.
Run3TV also creates apps that provide NextGen-enabled TV sets that give viewers additional features and programming.
Pearl TV, the organization formed by broadcasters to push adoption of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard, said it anticipates more broadcast groups will get involved in the Run3TV venture.
Comscore and Nielsen have been working with Pearl TV on local media measurement since 2018.
“Our investment in Run3TV and ATSC 3.0 is a strategic endeavor for local broadcasters like Gray, bringing additional, measurable value to local stations by providing more choices for our viewers,“ Gray Television CEO Pat LaPlatney said. “Run3TV improves over the air viewership measurement, but it also gives our viewers more options at the touch of a button to engage deeper with their local stations.”
Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.
"By integrating our applications into the Run3TV platform, we're committed to uniting the industry toward enriching the viewer experience, including offering more interactive services and essential public services like emergency alerts," added Chris Ripley, CEO of Sinclair, which previously had not been part of the Run3TV coalition.
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NextGen TV sets that are hooked up to both an antenna and the internet can opt in to provide stations with viewing information. That information can be used to enhance the local TV measurement services offered by Nielsen and Comscore.
"Our partnership aims to enhance audience measurement precision with big data capabilities for over-the-air, contributing to the industry's growth and innovation,“ Comscore chief information officer Brian Pugh said. “Comscore eagerly anticipates the rollout of Run3TV by broadcasters as it will allow enhanced return path data capabilities increasing the customer satisfaction and value of measurement.”
Paul LeFort, managing director of Nielsen’s local TV business, said: “Nielsen is pleased to evolve our longstanding relationship with Pearl TV as we jointly explore the use of OTA ‘big data’ in our local TV measurement. OTA households have been a critical element of our local TV service for decades, and this latest development around Run3TV is an exciting step in potentially being able to harness the power of OTA broadcasting data sources, which will only enhance our local TV measurement.”
TVB, the broadcast-TV trade organization, said its CEO Steve Lanzano weighed in on the development: “TVB and its members continue to advocate for new solutions that enhance local broadcast television audience measurement. The RUN3TV platform is a critical step in moving our industry forward through its ability to harness the data-rich capabilities of ATSC 3.0 technology to more accurately capture local, over-the-air viewership. TVB is a strong supporter of Pearl TV and their efforts to advance NextGen TV for the benefit of consumers, brand managers and advertisers.”
