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TV Measurement: Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp Remain JIC-Certified Currencies

The US Joint Industry Committee has recertified Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp for 2026 to 2028, according to Adweek. For advertising buyers, it remains important that JIC certification and MRC accreditation are not the same thing.

From Social Rocket editorial team

This text was created with AI assistance and reviewed editorially before publication. All sources are linked below.

Control room with many screens as a symbol of TV and streaming measurement
Photo: Ana Garnica / Unsplash

The US Joint Industry Committee (JIC) has recertified Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp as TV measurement currencies for the period 2026 to 2028, according to Adweek. For the US market, this is another signal that buying TV and streaming advertising is moving permanently towards a multi-currency model.

For marketers, however, one distinction is crucial: a JIC certification confirms transaction readiness, but it is not the same as a methodological accreditation by the Media Rating Council (MRC).

What JIC certification actually confirms

The U.S. Joint Industry Committee was founded by media buyers and video providers to define shared requirements for modern, cross-platform measurement currencies. The central question is whether data is stable, transparent and practical enough for buyers and sellers to plan on it, set prices and settle campaigns.

In the previous certification round, Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp were already assessed on transaction readiness and data quality. The official JIC documentation also describes mid-term audits as mandatory when certified providers change their methodology or currency-of-record data.

Comscore received 2025 full JIC certification across households, personified demographics and Advanced Audiences. iSpot had already received its certification 2024 across all currency categories reviewed by the JIC.

JIC is not MRC – and that is what matters

The new recertification should not be equated with an independent MRC accreditation. The two processes answer different questions.

The JIC primarily assesses whether a measurement product is suitable for real market transactions. The MRC, by contrast, reviews measurement services in a separate audit and accreditation process. The MRC publishes the current accreditation status of individual services – so what matters is always the specific product, not just the provider name.

This is 2026 particularly relevant because VideoAmp withdrew its ongoing MRC accreditation process in the summer and announced a re-evaluation for 2027. This was documented, among others, by Ad Measurement Weekly. At the same time, Comscore currently holds MRC accreditation for parts of its national and local TV measurement. The status of individual products can therefore differ considerably.

For advertising buyers, the rule is simple: do not just check the name of the measurement provider, but the exact product and the use case on which a deal is based.

Why multiple TV currencies are needed at all

Linear television, streaming and connected TV are increasingly planned together. This is precisely what makes the old idea of a single universal reach currency harder to sustain.

Multiple certified providers create competition in methodology, data sources and measurement models. At the same time, the effort grows to compare figures between systems and to explain internally why two providers can deliver different results for the same campaign.

We are now seeing similar standardisation problems outside TV as well. In creator marketing, consistent definitions and comparison metrics are still missing – our overview of creator measurement and IAB standards shows the same basic problem from another channel.

In retail media, the discussion is also shifting from mere reach to reliable impact. This is shown both by the AAM certification of DoorDash's incrementality measurement and by our analysis of retail media and brand measurement.

What German marketers should take away

The JIC recertification is a US market decision and not a German measurement standard. It is nonetheless relevant, because international platforms, streaming providers and agencies must answer the same fundamental questions in Europe too: How are linear and digital reach deduplicated? Which data is transaction-ready? And how much independent review does a measurement system need before large budgets are based on it?

For CTV and omnichannel planning, it is therefore worth asking each provider three things separately: Which data source sits behind it? Which certification or accreditation applies to this exact product? And can the measurement be consistently combined with other channels?

The market is therefore not moving towards a single new currency. It is moving towards several verified currencies with clearer rules for comparability and use.

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