Audience measurement expert and former OzTam CEO Doug Peiffer has joined Foxtel Media as a senior advisor.
Peiffer, who brings more than three decades of experience to the group, will support Foxtel Media to unlock “the power of comprehensive ratings data” from Foxtel Group’s more than one million set top boxes in partnership with Kantar Media.
At its upfront event last year, Foxtel revealed it has partnered with Kantar to build validated demographic profiles to match viewing data of its more than 4.6 million subscribers, crunching viewing data from 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Reporting directly to Foxtel Media CEO Mark Frain, Peiffer will help Foxtel Media develop new reach and effectiveness measures across linear and streaming channels, and add his insight to projects and initiatives that are run in partnership with Video Futures Collective partners.
His appointment will be viewed by the Video Futures Collective – which also includes YouTube, Disney Advertising, SBS and Samsung Ads – as a coup as the group seeks to provide the market with an alternative measurement solution to OzTAM.
“In an increasingly competitive landscape, audience measurement has become all the more critical for everyone along the video supply chain, from media companies to agencies and advertisers,” Frain said.
“The evolution of content delivery has also made measurement highly complex and technical. What’s been clear to me from speaking to industry folks from the UK, the US and locally is there are only a handful of people around the world able to really navigate this field Doug is one of the few experts globally with the background and deep technical knowledge to bring Australian measurement into the new age of media, and we are lucky to have him join the team.”
Peiffer began his career as a people meter installer for Nielsen in the US, and was general manager of strategy, integration and research at Australia’s Network Ten for nine years before being appointed CEO of Australia’s official television ratings currency OzTAM.
During his 12-year tenure at OzTAM, he created numerous new tools and processes that allowed broadcasters to maximise their audiences, and advertisers to reach them.
“The Foxtel Group’s suite of powerful media assets makes them uniquely qualified to pull apart the intricacies of audience measurement and create something truly special. Given the Group’s strong history with broadcast, streaming and rich data tapestry, they are well placed to leverage this information,” Peiffer said.
“Combined with a demonstrated willingness to work collaboratively with the industry, they are ideally positioned to deliver unparalleled insights to market that will enhance trading and boost results for the entire industry. I’m excited to be part of this pivotal moment in Australian media.”
