from left: Kerstin Niederauer-Kopf (AGF Videoforschung), Carsten Schwecke (Axel Springer All Media), Matthias Dang (RTL Deutschland), Juliane Paperlein (AGF Videoforschung)
Frankfurt, October 21, 2021. More transparency and openness for the German advertising market: The X-Reach project by AGF Videoforschung (former working title: Video+) was launched in May, and the first results are now in. This new test design was a reaction by AGF Videoforschung to one of the most pressing market requirements – uniform, comparable measurement of TV and digital from a single source. AGF did the first test run of this extended online content measurement with the participation of three shareholders, RTL Deutschland, Axel Springer and ProSiebenSat.1. In two test series, Nielsen and digital service provider INFOnline were on board as well. “Now that we have the first results from technical measurement, we’re working on validating and adjusting the method,” explains Kerstin Niederauer-Kopf, CEO of AGF Videoforschung. The goal of X-Reach is to extend digital measurement to include non-video content, and ultimately to identify incremental reach effects from a uniform research approach.
“With the current market requirements, we are experiencing a special momentum that we should use,” says Kerstin Niederauer-Kopf, and hopes for an expansion of the test run with as many publishers as possible. In the latest Viewtime she talks to Carsten Schwecke, CEO of Axel Springer All Media (ASAM) and Matthias Dang, CEO of Ad Alliance, about the requirements for crossmedia measurement and the next steps in the further development of X-Reach.
“We’re asking everyone to come to our open table and take part in this pathfinding development project.” Matthias Dang urges broad participation in the test. “It has never been as important as it is now to present a unified front to the German advertising market. Our goal is to create a basis for the market, with which we can cover the entire portfolio.” Carsten Schwecke also sees opportunities for all involved in this collaborative effort: “Fragmentation of media use is the rule today, so with X-Reach we’re working hard on an intelligent defragmentation solution, in order to offer our market partners good and secure solutions,” says Schwecke, adding “this innovative approach means transparency and quality, which today are more important than ever, but not a matter of course. We’re glad to be part of the project and we will continue to develop it together based on the upcoming results.”
Speaking for the Organisation of Media Agencies (OMG), Klaus-Peter Schulz says, “OMG welcomes AGF’s initiative in running this test measurement with attention to methodological detail. No market player should lose sight of the goal of creating a crossmedia convergence standard, including video and display. Without it, comparability will not be possible.”
In X-Reach, AGF is deploying its expertise in streaming measurement, in which it already combines several panel measurement approaches. Currently, every day the desktop panel measures viewing by around 15,000 participants, and the mobile panel measures viewing by about 6,300 participants. The AGF Panel concentrating on TV viewing contains at least 5,400 households, corresponding to around 11,000 panelists who contribute to daily reporting. The AGF panel also has a single source core currently based on 2,100 households reporting daily, which will be extended to 3,600 households by the end of 2024. Totalling the existing panels, this means that viewing by some 33,000 participants is measured every day using effective measurement technology and software. The resulting data also provide the basis for convergent video reach data.