TiVo said last week that Simulmedia, a New York-based marketing company that bills itself as delivering incremental viewership to TV programs through data-driven program promotion, has licensed its second-by-second set-top box data, in order to help TV networks to build audiences for their programs through more effective and targeted use of on-air promotion. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to TiVo, the deal will see Simulmedia using anonymous viewing data from TiVo's network of subscribers, in order to determine the effectiveness of on-air promotions in building an audience for a particular show when it ultimately airs. TiVo claims to be the only source of set-top data that covers all signal sources, including digital and analog cable, satellite, telco TV and over-the-air, while simultaneously enjoying a national footprint and visibility into full-timeshifted viewing behavior. It says that its data will allow Simulmedia to provide its customers with new findings on the effectiveness of their on-air promotions "from a whole new lens."
Simulmedia claims to use set-top and other data to address the growing audience fragmentation problem faced by TV networks, while simultaneously helping viewers discover shows they might enjoy. It says that it is constantly improving on-air program promotion to ensure that viewers can find the shows they like and programmers can build loyal audiences more effectively. "We are very excited about our data licensing partnership with TiVo," Simulmedia CEO, Dave Morgan, said in a prepared statement. "TiVo's anonymous audience data is the most robust, diverse and nationally distributed in the market, and is already helping Simulmedia improve consumers' TV viewing experience by significantly improving the relevance and timeliness of the program promotions that are delivered by many of the largest broadcast and cable networks in the US. Given that TiVo's viewership data is pulled from multiple sources and tracks timeshifted viewing, it is a crucial addition to our arsenal of set-top box data that we use to draw conclusions on viewer behavior and provide networks with even stronger insight." Added TiVo's VP and general manager of audience research and measurement, Todd Juenger: "It's no secret that, in this era of increasing consumer choice and control, networks are finding it harder to build audiences for their programs. This is exactly what Simulmedia is helping them achieve, and by using our set-top box data and deep understanding of TV viewers' behavior, including finding the best ways to predict what they will choose to watch if they are made aware of it, Simulmedia is taking a unique, data-driven approach to helping networks solve the problem. We are always on the lookout for partners who can put our data to work in unique and valuable ways that complement TiVo's own Research services, and Simulmedia is a perfect example of this."
