NBCUniversal and Sky taking CFlight ad measurement to Europe

NBCUniversal and Sky are to take their burgeoning collaboration in advertising under Comcast’s ownership to the next stage by launching NBCUniversal’s CFlight cross-platform measurement standard in Europe.

Sky adopting the next-generation metric across all of Sky Media’s content and platforms.

CFlight is a unified advertising metric that captures live, on-demand and time-shifted commercial impressions on every viewing platform. NBCUniversal said that the deal with Sky would bring the industry closer to a global standard in measurement, beginning with the rollout to Sky Media in the UK in the autumn, followed by further expansion across Sky’s European territories in 2020.

The pair previously announced the expansion of Sky’s AdSmart as a global offering that unifies both companies’ advanced advertising capabilities. Now, with the expansion of CFlight as a unified advertising metric,

CFlight was created by NBCUniversal last year to address the problem of US legacy metrics being unable to accurately capture impressions,

CFlight uses measurement sources including Nielsen in the US and BARB in the UK to provide marketers with one measurement that encompasses all types of viewing, from OTT co-watching to linear and beyond, according to NBCUniversal.

The pair emphasised that Sky, a BARB shareholder, would continue to be committed to building BARB’s Project Dovetail, the measurement outfit’s initiative to create a universal measurement system for multiscreen advertising.

The three-stage project kicked off with the collection of census data for online TV viewing on UK TV player apps, followed last year by reporting of multiscreen programme ratings, with analysis of multiscreen advertising campaigns to follow.

“The consumer appetite for premium video content is stronger than ever. Global consumers aren’t going back in time. They are watching premium video across a wide range of screens, and it’s imperative that the industry comes together and develops new measurement to match. We’re thrilled that Sky Media is adopting CFlight and joining NBCUniversal in the mission to show brands the true value of taking their message to the content fans love on all platforms,” said Kavita Vazirani, EVP of insights and measurement, NBCUniversal.

“Sky offers viewers the ability to watch all their favourite programmes live, on-demand, via catch-up, at home in front of the TV or on their mobile while on the go. Now with CFlight, we can give advertisers consistent, accurate measurement across all platforms and types of viewing – a first for the UK. We also continue to support the mission of BARB in the UK to deliver an industry-wide view,” said John Litster, managing director, Sky Media UK.