Attempting to solve a common problem in the video delivery and ad insertion processes, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and the Society for Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)are soliciting suggestions for an open-standard technical solution for binding Ad-ID and Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR) coding to all advertising and program content assets.
The two organizations have issued a formal request for information (RFI) for a solution.
The media industry currently has no open, uniform method of content identification that survives compression and distribution through the supply chain, the two groups explained. Putting such an identification method in place is a critical next step toward the establishment of an interoperable standard for all professional video content that can be used throughout the entire media ecosystem.
In August 2013, CIMM and SMPTE formed a study group comprising CIMM members and representatives from media organizations, ad agencies, and vendors that were charged with formulating an understanding of technologies and future standards requirements that can be applied to content identification. Authoring this RFI was part of the group’s charter.
“We are encouraged by the study group’s progress thus far and the industry’s level of engagement in this significant and necessary endeavor aimed at fixing a broken, antiquated system,” said CIMM Managing Director Jane Clarke. “Our hope with this RFI is to tap into the minds of some of the best and brightest in the industry and bring them into the fold of what continues to be a collaborative industrywide effort.”
“Given the continually expanding array of delivery platforms and the increase in targeted delivery of content, being able to identify advertising and program material as it is consumed over the plethora of devices out there has become critical,” said MediAnswers President and CEO Chris Lennon, who is the Study Group Chair.
“The RFI announced today reflects the work of many different stakeholders contending with this issue, and the response we receive will play a fundamental role in ensuring that the methodology ultimately adopted best serves the industry’s content identification requirements,” Lennon continued.
CIMM’s advocacy platform, Trackable Asset Cross-Platform Identification (TAXI), has called on the media industry to coalesce around unique identifying codes — similar to the ubiquitous Universal Product Codes (UPC) used in other industries — 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 media companies that embrace this approach 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.
