In a landmark move that signals a shift in how streaming platforms are measured and monetised in Australia, Netflix has officially joined OzTAM’s audience measurement ecosystem.
The announcement positions Netflix as the first global subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform to have its local viewership independently measured and reported by the country’s official television ratings provider.
The development marks a critical convergence of traditional broadcast and digital video measurement, offering advertisers, media buyers and networks a clearer view of how Australians are consuming content across platforms.
Streamscape to provide cross-platform clarity
At the heart of this announcement is OzTAM’s newly launched report, Streamscape, which aggregates viewership across free-to-air (FTA) broadcast TV, broadcaster video on demand (BVOD), and now, SVOD services like Netflix.
Using Streaming TV Meters (STVMs) deployed across OzTAM’s existing panel homes, Streamscape captures viewing on connected TVs, smartphones, tablets and desktops.
The goal? A unified data set that allows agencies and marketers to compare like-for-like performance across platforms.
From transparency to total video trading
While the current phase is focused on transparent measurement via Streamscape, a second phase is already in the works.
This next step aims to deepen the integration between Netflix and OzTAM’s VOZ Total TV currency by incorporating Netflix’s ad-tier census data.
The long-term ambition is ambitious but pointed: a single trading currency that includes linear TV, BVOD, Netflix and potentially other streaming services.
By embedding streaming data within audience planning and optimisation tools already used by agencies, OzTAM and Netflix are laying the groundwork for fully converged video trading.
This could mean less friction in media planning and new strategic opportunities for brands looking to reach audiences regardless of platform.
Karen Halligan
An invitation to the wider streaming market
OzTAM CEO Karen Halligan described the partnership as a “meaningful step” toward unified measurement and used the announcement to invite other streaming services in Australia to participate in the initiative.
“We look forward to delivering rich, accurate, and actionable audience insights to the industry as we continue to build towards converged trading, no matter which screen content is consumed on, or who it is delivered by,” Halligan said.
Heidi Monro, Senior Manager of Advertising Sales at Netflix ANZ, echoed the sentiment, adding that the company has long prioritised transparency through public-facing reporting, but saw this as the right time to go further in the Australian market.
This partnership is the latest in a string of innovations from OzTAM, which has ramped up its efforts to future-proof the country’s audience measurement system.
Alongside the rollout of VOZ as the official currency, the agency has expanded STVM coverage and is exploring the use of big data through a new proof-of-concept project.