Sky Adopts NBCUniversal’s CFlight as its Global Measurement Standard

NEW YORK, May 1, 2019 – Sky and NBCUniversal today announced the global expansion of CFlight, with Sky adopting the next-generation metric across all of Sky Media’s content and platforms.

CFlight is the industry’s first unified advertising metric that captures all live, on-demand and time-shifted commercial impressions on every viewing platform and ensures every impression counts. With today’s announcement, CFlight brings the industry closer to a global standard in measurement, beginning to roll out to Sky Media in the UK in the Autumn, with further expansion across Sky’s European territories in 2020.

This announcement follows the news of NBCUniversal and Sky taking the first step toward creating a global premium video offering with the expansion of AdSmart, a global offering that unifies both companies’ advanced advertising capabilities. Now, with the expansion of CFlight as a unified advertising metric, NBCUniversal and Sky are continuing their mission of creating a one-of-a-kind global premium video offering, making it easy for advertisers to reach customers in key international markets and measure results across NBCUniversal and Sky’s extensive TV and digital portfolio.

Launched in 2018, CFlight was created by NBCUniversal in response to continuously shifting audience viewing habits. Because US legacy metrics were unable to accurately capture impressions, NBCUniversal was the industry leader in setting out to create the next generation of measurement—one that meets global consumers where they are and accurately reflects the way they consume and engage with content.

“The consumer appetite for premium video content is stronger than ever,” said Kavita Vazirani, Executive Vice President of Insights & Measurement, NBCUniversal. “Global consumers aren’t going back in time. They are watching premium video across a wide range of screens, and it’s imperative that the industry comes together and develops new measurement to match. We’re thrilled that Sky Media is adopting CFlight and joining NBCUniversal in the mission to show brands the true value of taking their message to the content fans love on all platforms.”

“Sky offers viewers the ability to watch all their favourite programmes live, on-demand, via catch-up, at home in front of the TV or on their mobile while on the go,” said John Litster, Managing Director, Sky Media UK. “Now with CFlight, we can give advertisers consistent, accurate measurement across all platforms and types of viewing — a first for the UK. We also continue to support the mission of BARB in the UK to deliver an industry-wide view.”

CFlight uses the industry’s leading measurement sources, including Nielsen in the US, BARB in the UK, and more, to provide marketers with one measurement that encompasses all types of viewing, from OTT co-watching to linear and beyond, illustrating the unparalleled power of buying across all video. In both the US and UK, CFlight is inherently flexible, able to measure and leverage distributed platforms in digital and support any commercial impression, regardless of the delivery mechanism.

Note to Editors: Sky continues to be a shareholder and champion of BARB in the UK and Ireland. In addition, Sky’s commitment to building the BARB Dovetail capability across all broadcaster content remains as strong as ever.

NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. To learn more, visit www.nbcuniversal.com.

With 23 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. We have 31,000 colleagues and together we want to connect our customers to more of what they love, including our award-winning original productions, like Patrick Melrose and Save Me, and great shows from our partners including HBO, Showtime and Warner Bros. And our ever-improving technology makes it even easier for customers to watch more of the shows they love with personalised recommendations and voice control and, our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract free service. We treat our customers better than anyone else in our field, as Ofcom’s complaints data shows, and we look after our staff too. Sky is one of The Times Top 50 employers for women and we’re in Stonewall’s list of Top 50 LGBT-Inclusive employers. We also use our position as the leading entertainment business in Europe to do the right thing. As part of Sky Ocean Rescue campaign, we’re committing to be completely single-use plastic free by 2020, we’re investing £25million over five years in ocean-saving tech and we’re supporting the WWF to protect our oceans with designated Marine Protected Areas.