#e4mExclusive:  ISA set to roll out cross-media measurement system

For India’s ₹1.55 lakh crore advertising market, measuring the true number of individuals reached across media remains an unresolved challenge. The industry still lacks a common currency to answer a fundamental question: how many unique consumers does a campaign actually reach across media?

To fill the vacuum, the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) is planning to roll out a cross-media measurement (CMM) system in the next couple of months, sources privy to the development told e4m. The first phase is expected to focus on video, the largest inventory, with the framework potentially expanding to other media as it evolves.

The development marks the final stage of an initiative that ISA has been working on for around three years, as advertisers have sought a common way to evaluate audiences across an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

A top ISA official said the initiative is being shaped in line with the World Federation of Advertisers’ (WFA) Halo framework, which provides a common architecture and principles for measuring de-duplicated reach and frequency across media.

“The initiative is being shaped in line with the WFA’s Halo framework, which provides a blueprint for measuring de-duplicated reach and frequency across media. We have studied the UK's model Origin, which is the first successful model based on the Halo framework. Our Indian system is expected to start with video measurement first and then evolve progressively rather than attempt to bring every medium into a single system from day one,” the official said.

The ISA’s work on CMM has involved extensive deliberations and brainstorming within its dedicated Cross Media Measurement sub-committee. 

“The ISA is currently looking at bringing a wider group of stakeholders into the process, including advertisers, media agencies, broadcasters, digital platforms, publishers and measurement/data companies. Existing measurement ecosystems and data providers, including BARC and TAM, could also have a role as the industry explores how different datasets and methodologies can work within a common architecture,” ISA members told e4m. 

The objective is not necessarily to replace existing currencies overnight, but to build a neutral measurement layer that can bring different sources together and provide a de-duplicated view of campaign audiences.

“The media landscape has become increasingly fragmented, with advertisers now using more than 10 touchpoints on average to reach their audiences. As media consumption becomes more complex and advertising spends have touched ₹1.5 lakh crore annually, the industry needs better measurement to understand where and how audiences are engaging. An accountable, neutral and credible cross-media measurement is the need of the hour,” advertisers familiar with the discussions told e4m.

Notably, linear TV advertising expenditure in India stood at about ₹32,855 crore in 2025, according to the Pitch Madison Advertising Report (PMAR) 2026. An industry estimate puts the broader large-screen ecosystem, including Connected TV, at ₹38,855 crore, with CTV ad spend doubling to an estimated ₹6,000 crore. Together, this represents around 25% of India’s total advertising expenditure. 

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From Halo to Origin—and now potentially India

The global precedent for the proposed Indian approach is the WFA’s Halo framework, an advertiser-led, open-source set of common technology components and principles that allows individual markets to develop locally adapted, privacy-preserving cross-media measurement systems.

The UK's Origin, led by the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA), is currently the most mature implementation of Halo. It brings together broadcast TV, digital platform and panel data within a single privacy-preserving measurement pipeline to calculate de-duplicated reach and frequency. According to the WFA, Origin now covers more than 60% of the UK advertising market by spend.

Aquila, developed by the US advertisers, is following a comparable path, with trials underway. 

ISA is now studying Origin and Aquila closely as a reference point for what an Indian implementation could look like. Origin is advertiser-led, combines a single-source panel with platform data, operates in a privacy-preserving environment and is subject to independent audit. Its objective is to distinguish genuine incremental reach from duplicated exposure across TV and digital.

The hard part: Getting everyone on the same page

Technology, however, may be the easier part. A cross-media currency requires participation from stakeholders that currently operate with different measurement systems, methodologies and commercial interests, which may be a daunting task for the ISA, industry executives said. 

Observers point out, “Advertisers want comparable and independent measurement; agencies need a currency that works within media planning systems; broadcasters and platforms need to protect data and commercial interests; while measurement companies have established methodologies and infrastructure. The bigger challenge, therefore, may be industry consensus rather than technology.”

The end goal is straightforward: how many unique people did a campaign reach across media, how often were they exposed, and which channel delivered incremental reach?

ISA has a dedicated Cross Media Measurement sub-committee headed by Shuvadip Banerjee, Chief Digital Marketing Officer, ITC Ltd. Banerjee remained unavailable for comment on the development. ISA chairman Sunil Kataria did not respond to e4m’s queries.

Why India needs a common measurement currency

India, the world’s largest consumer market, arguably has an even stronger case for CMM than many mature advertising markets. Television, connected TV, YouTube and other digital video platforms, social media, streaming services, audio and other touchpoints increasingly overlap in the audiences they reach. Yet their measurement systems remain largely platform- or medium-specific.

An advertiser may know how many impressions each medium delivered, but not necessarily how many different people were reached overall—or how many times the same consumer was exposed across platforms.

A common cross-media framework could shift the conversation from “How much inventory did I buy?” to “How much incremental audience did I actually buy?”

The implications extend beyond measurement. A credible CMM currency could influence media planning, pricing, optimisation and the way advertisers evaluate the relative contribution of TV, digital video and other platforms.

The timing is significant

The timing of ISA’s push is particularly significant because India’s television measurement ecosystem is itself undergoing a reset. TV ratings have been paused for quite some time. 

The government’s TV Ratings Policy 2026 has introduced new requirements around the ratings ecosystem, including provisions aimed at strengthening transparency, accountability, data protection and independent oversight. 

BARC is working within the evolving regulatory framework, while the market could also see greater competition from established players such as TAM. 

Meanwhile, other media currencies remain fragmented: the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) for print has been stalled for seven years, while the out-of-home (OOH) industry continues to grapple with the lack of a common measurement system. Digital media is relatively more advanced, but much of its measurement data remains controlled by the tech giants.