The ratings of Dazn end up under the Agcom lens. After the first three days of the championship, the authority “started an investigation aimed at verifying the reliability of the methodology used by Dazn to collect the audience data”. On the other hand, for Agcom, the OTT is “primarily a content provider” and if the “challenge is the measurement of what is defined as” total audience “which includes the new digital devices” is It is essential that “all the necessary efforts are made to avoid the overlap of multiple metrics for the detection of online audiences”.
Agcom’s stance does not break Dazn, who on the contrary defines his audience survey as «absolutely perfectible» but «clear and linear, which guarantees transparency». At least according to the company’s Vp Media, Andrea Cerasoli. A vision diametrically opposed to that of Agcom’s president, Giacomo Lasorella, who in a hearing before the Transport Commission of the Chamber of Deputies had declared that Dazn’s survey methodology, in collaboration with Nielsen, “does not appear compliant”.
The ratings of the OCT are recorded by Auditel for television, while the use on smartphones, tablets and PCs is carried out by Nielsen (which ended up in the eye of the storm in the United States where it was suspended from the detection of ratings after the complaints of the publishers , ed): “It is a private company that carries out measurements – says Agcom -, but it is not an” audi “and does not take the form of the JIC (corporate formula that provides for the participation in the shareholding structure of the interested parties and market) as indicated and desired
by the Authority “.
Moreover, Upa, the association of Associated Advertising Users, also expressed its perplexity with respect to the Dazn surveys: “Basically – concludes the president of the authority – the investors complain about the unreliability of the data”.
“We have not yet received an official call”, Dazn specified, while Cerasoli wanted to underline that “in the last three years the audience had been surveyed by Auditel on channel 209. We concentrated on a shared, clear and linear methodology that guaranteed transparency . The system of recent months has led us to a survey methodology that could immediately provide an audience without the absence of data. The path is absolutely perfect, but we are still happy to have started it ».
Yet when asked why the OT did not enter Auditel for the detection of other devices, considering that the company recognized by Agcom “is able to measure TV content and advertising even on Smart TVs, Personal Computers (PCs) , Smartphones, Tablets and Game Consoles, obtaining information in census mode, based, that is, not on sample estimates, but on the total number of audiences directly detected “, the group did not provide an answer, simply saying:” Let’s collaborate “. Just as evasive was the answer to the question about relations with advertising investors: although Upa was impatient, for Dazn there are no problems.
As for the reliability of the audience and the possible deduplication of the audience since Dazn can be seen on 6 different associated devices, Claudio Bellen, head of the Advertising Strategy, explained that “the data is not deduplicated, but it is cumulated”.
The Commission also discussed the quality of the service with the President Raffaella Paita, who proposed a resolution text on the issues related to the obligations for Dazn: “Now – replied Lasorella – the problem is the quality of service, it needs Dazn undertakes towards Lega di A, Agcom and citizens on the quality of the service. It will also need to determine how far the network is capable of transmitting
the signal adequately and check if there is the possibility of using an alternative mechanism for the areas where the network does not arrive and does not make it. We need a quality standard ».