How to score Connected TV advertising platforms

What to take away

Why scoring order matters

Most product comparisons fail at the spreadsheet stage. Teams collect vendor information first, then invent weights to fit whichever platform impressed them. That is backwards.

Decide what matters before any demo. If reach across UK television and video inventory is your priority, weight it heavily and ask each vendor how they evidence it. If creative performance matters more, weight format flexibility and measurement of attention instead.

The weighting decision is the comparison. Everything after it is arithmetic.

What to score across platforms

A usable scorecard covers five areas. Keep each area to a handful of scored questions so vendors cannot bury weak answers in detail.

Start with actual options rather than a generic vendor row. UK Connected TV advertising options to consider include Sky AdSmart, ITVX, Channel 4 streaming, Amazon Ads, Roku Ads and Samsung Ads; label each proposal as broadcaster or streamer inventory, device-maker inventory or buying technology, and compare like with like against your campaign brief.

Score each answer from zero to five. Zero means no evidence supplied. Five means documented and verifiable. The gap between a confident verbal answer and a documented one is where most buyer risk sits, and our guide to connected TV advertising reviews and comparison methods explains how to run that evidence check properly.

Use BARB's Total Identified Viewing summary as a shared UK television baseline, and ask whether BARB Dovetail can add cross-platform context. IPA TouchPoints can inform audience-planning context, but it is not an interchangeable count of ad impressions; record what each source measures.

For independent measurement, ask whether the proposal uses Nielsen, Kantar or Comscore, and whether verification is provided by DoubleVerify or Integral Ad Science (IAS). Do not assume a partnership: require written confirmation of the provider, inventory covered, methodology and a sample report.

For creative, ask each supplier to map its available formats against IAB UK's introduction to creative best practice, provide format specifications and show the supporting evidence.

For targeting and consent, ask who determines the purposes and means of processing, the lawful basis under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, consent evidence where relied on, and how data is retained, deleted and shared with subprocessors. Check the ICO register of fee payers where the organisation is required to pay the data protection fee; registration is not proof of compliance.

Comparison table

Use the table as a scoring sheet, not a summary. Each row should produce a number you can defend in a buying meeting.

Weighting without bias

Give each criterion a percentage weight that totals 100. A brand-led campaign might weight creative and measurement at 60% combined. A performance-led campaign might put 50% on targeting and attribution.

Write the weights down before vendor calls and share them with your team. When a vendor later argues for different weightings, you can show the original document. This protects the comparison from recency bias, where the last impressive demo feels strongest.

Make the scorecard operational: create a row for each shortlisted option and columns for Reach, Creative, Targeting, Measurement and Commercials; record the score from zero to five, percentage weight, evidence document and unresolved caveat. Calculate each weighted result as the score divided by five, multiplied by the criterion's weight, then total the results against the 100% weighting. A score of five earns the full criterion weight; zero earns none. Use zero where evidence is absent, and rank only after applying the same evidence rules to every option.

If you buy through agencies rather than directly, the same discipline applies to their submissions. Our article on connected TV advertising agency reviews in England covers how to score agency responses against the same criteria so direct and intermediated options stay comparable.

Pricing and total cost

Platform fees are only part of the number. Add media spend, creative production, measurement tools and any minimum commitment. The £400 a month platform-fee example here is hypothetical, not a quoted rate; in that illustration, the team might spend three times that on production and verification in the first quarter.

Ask every vendor for a written, worked example at your budget level, including platform fees, minimum commitments, media spend and production, measurement or verification charges. Request the current rate card or fee schedule rather than treating a hypothetical figure as a platform price. If they will not provide one in writing, score the commercial criterion lower. A comparison that ignores total cost flatters whichever platform has the simplest fee story, not the best value.

Common questions

Should I score vendors before or after seeing demos?

Set your criteria and weights first, then run demos. This prevents a polished presentation from changing what you value. Demos become evidence collection against a fixed rubric.

How many platforms should a comparison cover?

Three to five is usually workable. Fewer limits your options. More than five makes consistent scoring hard because each vendor call consumes time and attention.

What if a vendor refuses to give written answers?

Score that criterion at zero or one and note why. Refusal is itself evidence. If the platform later provides documentation, you can revise the score with a dated note.

How often should the scorecard be updated?

Review it each buying cycle or when your campaign objectives change. Weights that suited a brand campaign may not suit a performance push, and stale criteria hide new platform options.