Media buyers say they want to see all audience data for each medium in one place and be able to compare them equally.
Now, Pandora has taken a step in that direction. The Internet audio firm says its audience data will appear in three media buying platforms: including Strata and Mediaocean’s Donovan and Mediabank systems.
Strata and Mediaocean will import Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics Local data into their software platforms, allowing radio buyers to view Pandora national and local audience ratings. Strata’s integration was released in January and Strata agencies now have access to Pandora audience data. Mediaocean is currently in beta release with rollout to Mediabank systems in mid-March and Donovan systems by the end of April.
Before the integrations, radio buyers using Strata and Mediaocean systems had to manually research Pandora audience ratings.
Strata President/CEO John Shelton said media buyers’ reaction to the Pandora move was positive.
Mediaocean had approached Pandora last year, according to Mediaocean CEO Bill Wise, who said clients in North America and Europe who use its systems “to manage over $100 billion in media spend a year have long expressed a desire to spend far more heavily in digital radio generally, and Pandora specifically.”
While Pandora says radio advertising buyers will be able to compare Pandora’s audience data side-by-side with broadcast radio, it won’t be an apples-to-apples comparison. Triton Digital measures server connections for Pandora. Strata and Mediaocean will import Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics Local data into their software platforms, allowing radio buyers to view Pandora national and local audience ratings.
Arbitron measures audience for broadcast radio and its streams. While the firm is working on cross-platform measurement, it says many details remain to be worked out.
