Measurement Company TVision Raises $11.5M in New Funding

By Jon Lafayette

Originally Published in Broadcasting & Cable

TVision Insights, a measurement firm focusing on the attention paid to programming and advertising on television, said it has raised $11.5 million in new funding.

The latest round of funding was led by Accomplice and Jump Capital. Accomplice and Jump earlier were part of a $6.8 million round of funding in 2016.

TVision Insights also said that Luke McGuinness has joined the company as president and chief operating officer, a new position. McGuinness previously had been a member of the executive team at LiveRamp. In a 20-year career, he has also held positions at Collective and Experian.

Related: Data Drives TV Measurement’s Next Generation

In his new role, McGuinness will oversee product, go-to-market, partnerships, business development and operational functions.

TVision Insights is one of a number of relatively new research companies providing networks, media buyers and advertisers with fresh data about TV viewing.

“This additional investment from our existing investors speaks volumes about both the momentum that we have achieved so far and the opportunity in front of us,” said Yan Liu, CEO of TVision Insights. “These funds will support the expansion of our opt-in, privacy-safe, in-home panel, and the growth of our team in order to meet the incredible demand for our TV attention data.”

Clients including Mars, Hulu and ABC use TVision’s attention data. The data is used in a number of areas including:

• Advertising and Creative Effectiveness: Brands measure the effectiveness of creative and easily identify ad wear out.
• Media Planning: Brands buy media based on a program’s ability to capture eyeballs.
• Ad Sales and Program Research: Networks appropriately value premium content and niche audiences based on viewer attention.

“TVision is the de facto provider of viewer attention data at the exact time that networks and brands are looking for new ways to value television,” said Ryan Moore of Accomplice “With this investment, TVision has the capital needed to accelerate growth in order to stay ahead of demand.”

Related: NBC Got Most Attention In Q1 Study, TVision Insights Finds

Yelena Shkolnik of Jump Capital said: “The way people consume media is changing quickly, which brings challenge and opportunity for both buyers and sellers of media. TVision’s unique person-level attention data opens the door to optimized campaign strategy across TV and digital, offering a powerful new approach for targeting and attribution."

TVision recently released information about shorter commercials at the ARF’s AudienceXScience conference.

“The ARF congratulates TVision on its latest round of financing,” said Paul Donato, CRO of the Advertising Research Foundation. “As attention and emotion emerge as critical metrics for television audience measurement, TVision has been a true innovator in development of a methodology unique in its analysis. The ability to passively capture viewer attention to TV in the living room has opened up new avenues for audience understanding and we look forward to continuing our work with TVision in developing essential insights for both advertisers and media sellers.”