Core Insights - The 2026 State of Programmatic Report indicates a shift in the programmatic market towards intentional spending and accountability, with 58% of media buyers expecting increased investment in 2026 and 87% valuing cross-channel performance metrics for decision-making [1][6]. Group 1: Market Trends - Programmatic advertising is entering a mature growth phase, with buyers focusing on purposeful budget allocation and demanding transparency and quality across all screens [2]. - CTV (Connected TV) and audio are the only media channels projected to see year-over-year budget growth, with CTV expected to capture an average of 26% of media budgets and audio 10% [6]. Group 2: AI and Optimization - AI-powered optimization is now considered essential, with 82% of marketers affirming its importance [6]. - The top AI applications anticipated for 2026 include audience targeting and modeling (88%), campaign pacing and bid automation (77%), measurement and attribution (71%), and fraud detection and brand safety (70%) [6]. Group 3: Budget Reallocation - A significant 45% of marketers are reallocating budgets from linear TV to CTV, while 21% are moving funds from linear to programmatic audio [6]. - More than half of the respondents (58%) expect their programmatic investment to increase in 2026, indicating a positive outlook for the programmatic market [6]. Group 4: Measurement and Effectiveness - Marketers prioritize conversion rate (62%), ROAS (47%), reach and frequency (46%), and click-through rate (39%) as key metrics for measuring programmatic campaign effectiveness [10]. - 43% of respondents plan to increase their use of contextual targeting in 2026, especially in privacy-regulated sectors where 50% identify contextual targeting as their main tactic [6].

Core Insights - ESPN will utilize Comscore Content Measurement (CCM) to gain a unified view of audience engagement across linear, streaming, digital, and social platforms, enhancing its understanding of total audience reach and programming impact [1][2] Audience Engagement - In September 2025, ESPN reached a total audience of 240.4 million people across all its platforms, with 74.6 million engaging through linear networks alone, indicating a more than 3X increase (+222%) when including digital and social audiences [3] Strategic Implications - The collaboration with Comscore allows ESPN to better communicate its reach and impact to advertisers, refine its content strategy, and differentiate its brand in a competitive media landscape [2][4] Comscore's Role - Comscore provides insights into audience overlap and platform-specific lift, along with person-level demographics that aid in content planning and ad sales strategy [6]

Core Insights - Comscore has launched new program-level capabilities within its Content Measurement (CCM) to enhance visibility for advertisers and agencies regarding audience engagement with content at the series and episode level [1][4] Group 1: New Capabilities - The new program-level reporting allows advertisers to plan campaigns based on deduplicated reach across platforms, leading to more cost-effective campaigns and reduced wasted ad spend [2] - Comscore's CCM now provides daily normalized reporting across platforms, addressing the fragmentation in cross-platform insights and setting a new industry benchmark for transparency and precision [3] Group 2: Industry Impact - The expansion of content measurement capabilities enables better planning, smarter selling, and greater confidence in a converged media landscape where content is increasingly valuable [4] - The partnership with AWS and the use of Amazon Bedrock agentic AI technology allows Comscore to process vast amounts of viewing metadata, creating a unified "source of truth" for audience measurement [4] Group 3: Client Benefits - Agencies have expressed that the insights provided by Comscore are crucial for understanding viewing behaviors in context, allowing for faster and more confident decision-making [4] - The new capabilities are expected to help media companies and advertisers optimize their investments by measuring content performance across multiple devices [4]

Core Insights - Comscore has completed a recapitalization transaction with its preferred stockholders, enhancing financial flexibility and corporate governance [1][2] - The recapitalization eliminates an annual preferred dividend of $18 million and aligns interests among stockholders [1][2] Financial Details - Preferred stockholders exchanged 31,928,301 Series B preferred shares for 3,286,825 shares of common stock and 4,223,621 shares of new Series C preferred stock [2] - The transaction involved the issuance of 9,860,475 shares of common stock and 12,670,863 shares of Series C preferred stock, eliminating all Series B preferred stock [2] - The recapitalization implied an exchange of $80.8 million of existing liquidation preference for common stock at an effective price of $8.19 per share, a nearly 50% premium to the 90-day VWAP of $5.465 per share [2] - Additionally, $183.7 million of remaining liquidation preference was exchanged for Series C preferred stock at a price of $14.50 per share, with the new preferred stock being convertible into common stock at a 1:1 rate and paying no annual dividends [2] Strategic Positioning - The recapitalization is viewed as a pivotal moment for Comscore, positioning the company for long-term growth and investment in media transformation through AI [2] - The improved capital structure aims to increase market interest in Comscore's common stock and enhance public market capitalization [2]

Core Insights - Nielsen and Roku have expanded their long-term strategic partnership to incorporate Roku data into Nielsen's advanced campaign measurement and outcome solutions [1][2] - This partnership aims to provide advertisers with a more accurate view of audience engagement across streaming services, leveraging Roku's data [2][5] Group 1: Partnership Details - The expanded partnership will utilize Roku's large-scale TV data for Nielsen's Big Data + Panel measurement, enhancing accuracy for both Linear and Streaming Ratings [2][4] - Roku will gain access to Nielsen's Streaming Platform Ratings, which analyze audience engagement with subscription and ad-supported services [3][6] Group 2: Market Insights - Approximately 70% of TV streaming hours are now ad-supported, highlighting the growth of ad-supported services like The Roku Channel, which is the second-largest streaming app by ad-supported TV time [3][5] - Nielsen measures over 1 trillion minutes of viewing across all streaming apps in a typical month, reinforcing its position as a leader in streaming TV measurement [4][7] Group 3: Strategic Goals - The partnership aims to improve the TV advertising system by focusing on interoperability and performance, providing advertisers and publishers with best-in-class measurement and insights [6][5] - Nielsen's innovations, including accreditation for its Big Data + Panel measurement, are set to enhance the effectiveness of advertising transactions [7]

Core Insights - Comscore has expanded its cross-platform reporting suite by introducing streaming audio measurement and enhanced social reporting, now rebranded as Cross-Platform Campaign Results [1][4] - The new capabilities allow advertisers to plan, activate, and measure streaming audio and podcast campaigns alongside other digital and linear formats, providing a comprehensive view of campaign performance [2][5] Company Developments - The rebranding of Comscore Campaign Ratings (CCR) to Cross-Platform Campaign Results (CCR) aims to clarify the company's unique offering in validating impact and optimizing spend across fragmented media landscapes [4] - Comscore's expanded social reporting provides insights into deduplicated reach and performance across Facebook and Instagram, aligning with TV, CTV, and digital channels [3][4] Industry Impact - The enhancements in Comscore's reporting suite enable advertisers to measure channels collectively rather than in silos, thus improving budget allocation and campaign planning across various platforms [4][5] - As consumer attention shifts across platforms and formats, the Cross-Platform Campaign Results equips advertisers with unified insights to validate performance and drive stronger business outcomes [5][6]

Core Insights - Mark Read has been appointed as the chairman of Kantar Media's newly formed independent board, marking his return to the industry after leaving WPP [2][10] - Kantar Media is undergoing a significant transformation following its acquisition by H.I.G. Capital for approximately $1 billion, transitioning from a group entity to an independent company [4][9] - The media measurement industry is at a pivotal moment, facing challenges such as the decline of cookies, the rise of cross-media measurement, and increasing pressure for advertising transparency [10] Group 1: Mark Read's Background and Role - Mark Read has a 30-year history in the advertising industry, having navigated both traditional advertising and the digital transformation [3] - He served as CEO of WPP during a tumultuous period, implementing reforms that helped the company regain its direction [3][9] - Read will continue to advise WPP until the end of the year, maintaining a connection to the industry [3] Group 2: Kantar Media's Transformation - Kantar Media's new independent board is a response to its recent ownership change, aiming to redefine its role in a complex media landscape [4][7] - The company seeks to provide clarity in audience behavior amidst the rapid evolution of media channels and consumer interactions [5][6] - Kantar Media aims to assist advertisers and media platforms in understanding the flow of information across different media [8] Group 3: Industry Context and Future Outlook - The media measurement sector is experiencing unprecedented complexity, necessitating new tools for advertisers and media agencies [4][10] - Read's strategic perspective and experience in data and AI are seen as valuable assets for Kantar Media's growth [9] - The convergence of a newly independent company, a promising board, and an experienced leader suggests both challenges and opportunities for the industry [9][10]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Total revenue for Q3 2025 was $88.9 million, a slight increase of 0.5% from $88.5 million in Q3 2024 [11] - Adjusted EBITDA for Q3 2025 was $11 million, down 11.1% from the prior year, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.4% [12] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Content and ad measurement revenue was $75.5 million, up 0.3% year-over-year, driven by growth in cross-platform and local TV offerings [11] - Cross-platform revenue reached $12.3 million, up 20.2% compared to the prior year, despite a strategy shift from a large retail media client [12] - Syndicated audience revenue decreased by 2.8% to $63.2 million, impacted by declines in national TV and syndicated digital products [12] - The movies business generated $9.5 million, up 1.9% from the prior year [12] - Research and insight solutions revenue was $13.4 million, up 1.4% from Q3 2024, primarily due to new business [12] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company experienced double-digit growth in local TV offerings, indicating strong performance in local measurement [20] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focused on enhancing cross-platform capabilities and has launched new solutions like comScore Content Measurement (CCM) to address industry needs [5][6] - A recent agreement with preferred shareholders aims to eliminate over $18 million in annual preferred dividends and improve alignment between preferred and common stockholders [10] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management anticipates continued solid double-digit growth in cross-platform revenue, despite short-term impacts from a client strategy shift [15] - The company is revising its full-year revenue guidance to be roughly flat with the prior year, reflecting the expected impact of the client shift [14] Other Important Information - The company is investing in new products and capabilities, which has affected financial results but is expected to drive future growth [13] Q&A Session Summary Question: Can you provide additional color on the large retail media advertiser that shifted away from Proximic? - The shift was primarily from a large retail media client with significant first-party data, impacting the Proximic business and expected to continue into Q4 [17] Question: What gives confidence that cross-platform growth opportunities can replace lost revenue? - The combination of Proximic's capabilities and the strong performance of cross-platform ad measurement products, particularly CCM, is expected to drive future growth [18][19] Question: How can the recent reports about competitors benefit comScore's local measurement adoption? - The company's strong capabilities in local measurement are expected to continue driving growth, supported by ongoing investments [20] Question: How does the recapitalization improve EBITDA to free cash flow conversion? - The recapitalization agreement is expected to provide benefits for common shareholders and improve financial flexibility for future investments [21][22]

Third Quarter 2025 Q3 2025 Earnings Call Jon Carpenter Chief Executive Officer Mary Margaret Curry Chief Financial Officer Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Third Quarter Highlights $88.9M Revenue +$0.4M year-over-year $11.0M Adj. EBITDA 12.4% margin rate This presentation contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal and state securities laws, including, without limitation, our expectations, forecasts, plans and opinions regarding expected revenue and adjusted EBITDA ...

Core Insights - Comscore, Inc. reported a revenue of $88.9 million for Q3 2025, reflecting a 0.5% increase from $88.5 million in Q3 2024, with significant growth in cross-platform solutions and local TV [5][9] - The company announced a recapitalization transaction aimed at eliminating annual dividends on preferred stock, which would enhance financial flexibility for investments in growth areas [2][9] - Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $11.0 million, down from $12.4 million in Q3 2024, resulting in adjusted EBITDA margins of 12.4% compared to 14.0% in the prior year [8][9] Financial Performance - Revenue from cross-platform solutions grew by 20% year-over-year, driven by new client commitments to multiyear measurement deals [2][9] - Local TV revenue experienced double-digit growth, attributed to key renewals and new business [2][9] - Net income for Q3 2025 was $0.5 million, a significant recovery from a net loss of $60.6 million in Q3 2024, primarily due to a non-cash goodwill impairment charge in the previous year [7][9] Operational Highlights - Core operating expenses increased by 4.4% to $86.6 million, mainly due to higher employee compensation and professional fees, partially offset by lower data costs [6][9] - The company is recalibrating its full-year revenue guidance to be roughly flat compared to the previous year, influenced by a data-strategy shift from a major customer [12][9] - Excluding the impact of the data-strategy shift, cross-platform revenue would have grown by 35% year-over-year in Q3 2025 [12][9] Balance Sheet and Liquidity - As of September 30, 2025, Comscore had cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash totaling $29.9 million, with outstanding debt under its senior secured term loan at $44.7 million [11][9] - The company had no outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility, maintaining a remaining borrowing capacity of $15.0 million [11][9] Market Position and Strategy - Comscore aims to establish itself as the premier currency for local market transactions, with ongoing investments in cross-platform measurement capabilities [2][9] - The company is optimistic about its growth trajectory despite the recent adjustments in revenue guidance, indicating confidence in the continued adoption of its cross-platform solutions [2][9]