TV ad-measurement firm iSpot acquires DRmetrix to boost DTC, direct response capabilities

Real-time TV ad measurement platform iSpot.tv has acquired DRMetrix, which specializes in products for direct-to-consumer and direct-response TV advertisers.

The company said the addition of DRMetrix expands iSpot’s measurement of emerging formats for addressable advertising and enhances its ability to track rotating calls-to-actions, including website URLs, text messaging (SMS) and toll-free numbers. That will give brands an enhanced ability to measure business outcomes of cross-platform ad campaigns, according to the company.

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. A source familiar with the pact said the price tag was “tens of millions” of dollars.

“iSpot is constantly investing in the development and acquisition of technologies required to accurately measure the TV advertising of tomorrow,” iSpot founder and CEO Sean Muller (pictured above) said in announcing the deal. “DRMetrix has developed unique and real-time measurement capabilities around creative versioning and dynamic advertising that will become increasingly important as the TV ad market evolves.”

DRMetrix’s customer base comprises 120 brands, networks and agencies. That brings iSpot to more than 450 annual customers, representing 75% of the Fortune 100 and 95% of TV networks in North America, according to the company. The acquisition is iSpot’s second of a real-time ad measurement company: In January 2021 it bought Ace Metrix, which developed a qualitative way to measure and score advertising creative performance.

DRMetrix’s AdSphere measurement system monitors all TV ad formats and executions including those delivered via digital program insertion (DPI) ad breaks. The DPI measurement capabilities allow precise identification of ad creatives that are sold by the cable networks as “cover-ups,” which pay-TV operators inconsistently overlay with their own inventories and historically has represented a blind spot for marketers.

“We developed a unique system for accurately measuring one of the most dynamic and difficult portions of TV advertising, and we amassed a client base that represents a growing and important part of the TV ecosystem,” Joseph Gray, founder and CEO of DRMetrix, said in a statement. “In iSpot, we’ve found a home for our innovations to thrive and a vehicle to accelerate our shared goals of making all TV ad measurement more transparent, more actionable and easier [to use].” Variety