With its stock languishing under $3 a share since early August, Comscore is entering the fourth quarter of 2019 with a heap of uncertainty regarding its future. Its stock’s one-year target estimate was slashed to $4.90; a year ago SCOR was priced at $15.35 per share.
Could a new deal with a TEGNA-owned offering help fuel a much-needed turnaround for the beleaguered audience measurement company?
Thanks to a deal announced Monday (10/21), Comscore will now be the measurement provider for TEGNA division Premion‘s OTT offering.
Premion has carved a place in the over-the-top arena as a “premium CTV/over-the-top” ad platform for local and regional advertisers. The agreement means Premion’s offering will be backed by Comscore’s cross-platform video advertising measurement tool, Comscore Campaign Ratings (CCR), which offers an unduplicated view of total audiences across linear TV and digital platforms (including OTT), person-level reach, co-viewing insights and demographics.
“Our advertiser-first strategy is built upon simplification in audience buying, driving transparency and measurable outcomes for advertisers,” said Premion President Jim Wilson. “With Comscore, we’re bringing the highest level of accountability by giving advertisers a comprehensive view of campaign performance so they can easily measure and prove the efficacy of their CTV/OTT ad spending.”
Comscore EVP/Local Markets Steve Walsh added, “OTT advertising is becoming a critical channel for marketers at all levels. Thus, it’s never been more important to not only include OTT measurement in campaign reporting, but to also deduplicate it along with TV and digital channels. Comscore is committed to providing validated content that drives trust in OTT advertising and ultimately enables it to scale, particularly at the local and regional levels.”
News of the pact helped SCOR climb above the $2 mark for the first time in a week, reversing a downturn that put Comscore shares at $1.74 as recently as Oct. 14.
Still, Comscore shares have greatly depreciated since a series of events put the company on shaky financial ground. Among the more notable headline-making headaches for Comscore: A $5 million penalty for fraudulently inflating its revenue by $50 million between 2014 and 2016.
This followed the March 31 dual resignations of CEO Bryan Wiener and President Sarah Hofstetter, and the August departure of board member and audit committee chair Paul Reilly, who also resigned.
