NEW YORK—The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) has announced strategic priorities for 2026 that aim to reinforce its commitment to advancing improvements, best practices, innovations and collaboration across the media and advertising industries.
To help carry out that agenda, CIMM also announced that Dana McGraw (Disney) and Ben Hovaness (OMD) have joined Kate Sirkin (Epsilon) and Larry Allen (Comcast Advertising) on CIMM’s Board of Directors, providing strategic direction to drive innovation and industry collaboration.
“CIMM’s members are navigating a more complex and fast-moving marketplace, with dramatic changes underway,” said Jon Watts, managing director, CIMM. “In 2026, CIMM is focused on delivering real, actionable change, with a focus on critical innovations in three interrelated priority areas: effectiveness, attribution and outcomes; CTV, streaming and programmatic; and the transformational application of AI to media planning, buying and optimization. Our goal is to support the development of practical, scalable approaches that build confidence, transparency and trust.”
Hovaness added: “AI will speed up planning and optimization, but only if the inputs are credible. CIMM’s work to strengthen measurement and governance will help ensure automation increases client value, not just activity. Better measurement is the foundation for better performance."
Following extensive consultation with its Steering Committee and members, CIMM reported that its 2026 program will focus on three critical areas:
- 1. Unlocking the full potential of CTV, streaming and programmatic. CIMM will focus on the structural, technical and governance changes required to support an increasingly impressions-led TV and video marketplace, including the convergence of linear and streaming measurement, the operationalization of impressions across CTV and addressable environments, and the implications for trading, currency comparability, and cross-platform planning. The Coalition will also explore the evolving role of programmatic infrastructure in enabling scalable, transparent, and trusted TV and video transactions.
- 2. The revolution in advertising effectiveness, attribution and outcomes measurement. As the industry shifts from audience delivery to business outcomes, CIMM will examine how attribution, outcomes-based measurement, and Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) are reshaping planning, optimization and valuation of TV and video. Work will focus on improving methodological rigor, comparability, and transparency; understanding the relationship between platform-level attribution and independent measurement; and defining best practices for integrating exposure, attention, and outcomes signals into modern MMM and decisioning frameworks.
- 3. The transformation of advertising measurement, planning, buying and optimization in the age of AI: CIMM will explore how AI-driven measurement, synthetic data, identity resolution, forecasting, optimization, and decision automation are reshaping TV and video advertising. This work will assess opportunities and risks – including model transparency, bias, explainability, and governance – with the goal of helping the industry harness AI in ways that enhance trust, accountability, and effectiveness. The role and implications of AI-powered creative will also be a critical focus.
During the year, CIMM also said that it will announce specific studies centered around its key focus areas and other initiatives that address a range of critical industry priorities.
CIMM will also be publishing a range of new studies undertaken in 2025, including papers addressing:
- Advertiser and agency perspectives on evolving measurement and currency needs.
- A live, in-market proof-of-concept assessment of open-standards CTV watermarking.
- Evaluating quality signals, including attention, as indicators of effectiveness.
- A diagnostic analysis of the transformation of MMM in the age of AI and big data.
- An empirical study on the effectiveness of contextual advertising in CTV.
- A buyer’s guide to identity resolution solutions.
- The state of kids’ media measurement and the case for industry action.
- Innovations in sports measurement and sponsorship evaluation.
- Addressing fraud in the U.S. CTV and streaming ad market.
- Strengthening the institutional foundations of the U.S. measurement marketplace.
CIMM enters 2026 following a year of strong growth and engagement across membership, research and events. In 2025, the Coalition welcomed 20 new members, including Adelaide, Affinity Solutions, Amazon Ads, Amazon Web Services, Antenna, Centro TV, Deloitte, HyphaMetrics, Kargo, Keynes Digital, LoopMe, Mutinex, Relo Metrics, RTL Ad Alliance, Strategus, Tenetic, TiVo, Trajectory, Versant and Vevo. Amazon Ads and Versant also joined CIMM’s Steering Committee.
CIMM’s Working Groups – knowledge communities that help identify research priorities and develop projects – also added two new chairs: Josh Chasin (KnotSimpler) for Ad Measurement & Effectiveness and Melva Goffney Benoit (The Marian Dupree Group) for Content Measurement & Analytics.
In addition, following a competitive review of applications from early-stage innovators aligned with CIMM’s mission, the Coalition recently announced its 2026 Startup Program members.
CIMM events planned for 2026 include: CIMM East (March 31), Cannes (June), CIMM Summit NYC (September 22-23), CIMM West/ARF OTT (October 27-28) and CIMM London (December 7), and its Innovation Showcase series, with one on identity resolution taking place February 18.
To learn more about CIMM, its mission and initiatives, visit: https://cimm-us.org/.
