Study Group Session Including Networks, Advertisers, and Engineers Meets to Explore Binding of Unique Content Identifiers to Media
NEW YORK -- Sept. 3, 2013 -- The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and the Society for Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) today announced they have commenced work on a critical next step toward widespread industry adoption of Ad-ID and Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR) coding for all advertising and video content assets. At the center of this effort is the establishment of the optimal open standard technical solution for the actual binding of Ad-ID and EIDR identifiers to video assets. The media industry currently has no standardized, open method of directly associating content identifiers with the audiovisual content itself.
CIMM's advocacy platform, commonly known as Trackable Asset Cross-Platform Identification (TAXI), calls for all sides of the media ecosystem to coalesce around unique identifying codes -- similar to the ubiquitous Universal Product Codes (UPC) used in many other industries. These codes are provided by either Ad-ID, the industry standard for identifying advertising assets across all media platforms, or EIDR, a global registry for unique identification of movie and TV content.
Participating organizations that embrace the Ad-ID or EIDR coding as well as CIMM and SMPTE's forthcoming open standard technical solution can better monetize video assets across distribution platforms, increase efficiency and accuracy of media workflows, and improve cross-platform media measurement by making it easier to track assets across television, broadband, and mobile video.
"Today, the transfer of content throughout the media ecosystem is rife with thousands of siloed, proprietary avenues that have resulted in massive inefficiencies, errors, and waste," said CIMM Managing Director Jane Clarke. "The growing support for the TAXI initiative is a testament to the frustration with the existing system and a sincere willingness to effect change."
As part of this initiative, CIMM and SMPTE formed a study group comprising CIMM members and representatives from media organizations, ad agencies, and vendors who are meeting regularly to discuss the issues and challenges, and ultimately, to agree on the best binding process to enact. The study group held its first session on Aug. 13, and the discussion focused on creating a roadmap to define such things as use cases, technical requirements, and binding technology candidates, all of which will provide valuable input to the group's expected report. The outcome will be a key next step for the TAXI initiative and successful industry-wide adoption.
"We are fully supportive of the effort underway to implement a UPC type of embedded identification for professional video content and advertisements," said SMPTE Executive Director Barbara Lange. "We are eager to lend our engineering expertise to support such an important endeavor and we are looking forward to evaluating potential technical solutions in the months ahead."
Part of the group's Charter is to author a request for information (RFI), soliciting input from the industry at large for approaches to binding IDs to media.
Technical solution providers are encouraged to participate and can contact the study group Chair Chris Lennon, at clennon@medianswers.tv.
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About CIMM
The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) is comprised of leading video content providers, media agencies and advertisers that aim to promote innovation and foster efficiencies in audience measurement for television and cross-platform video. CIMM explores and identifies new methodologies in audience measurement and verifies these approaches through a series of pilot tests and studies conducted with independent measurement companies. CIMM's primary focus is on two key areas: the current and future potential of television measurement through the use of return-path data, and new methods for cross-platform media measurement. www.cimm-us.org
About the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
The Oscar(R) and Emmy(R) Award-winning Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), a professional membership association, is the worldwide leader in developing and providing motion-imaging standards and education for the communications, technology, media, and entertainment industries. An internationally recognized and accredited organization, SMPTE advances moving-imagery education and engineering across the broadband, broadcast, cinema, and IT disciplines. Since its founding in 1916, SMPTE has published the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal and developed more than 650 standards, recommended practices, and engineering guidelines. SMPTE members include motion-imaging executives, engineers, creative and technology professionals, researchers, scientists, educators, and students from around the world. Information on joining SMPTE is available at www.smpte.org/join.
