At the Upfronts, Data Is Driving DealsBuyers' new motto: trust but verify

The broadcast ad market is on its feet and moving toward deals as of this week, but one thing that seems to be in much greater play this year is accountable, verifiable data—and not necessarily from the usual sources.

“Budgets are being registered, but I don’t think there’s a lot that’s start-to-finish closed,” said one buyer. Indeed, Fox appears to have leaped into the fray first; Viacom, which has fired the starter pistol several times in recent years, isn’t budging on pricing this time—frequently it’s gone for volume over price, but there are enough endemics for sales folks to dig in their heels a little more. ABC has also entered the market, and the consensus seems to be that budgets are down across the board.

On the broadcast side, something surprising is changing, and that’s the way data is guaranteed. NBCU’s new service, NBCU+ Powered by Comcast, is a hit with advertisers (it pairs up Comcast’s vast user footprint with purchaser data from companies like Acxiom and Experian—which mine credit and loyalty card info—to give a clearer picture of who’s actually seeing ads and buying products). “I definitely think that’s the direction we’d all like to move in,” said the buyer.http://www.adweek.com/news/television/upfronts-data-driving-deals-158179?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=AWK_TodayTV&utm_campaign=Adweek%20Newsletter%20Template%20-%20TV%20Today%20-%20July%2012