Starcom CIO Kristin Haarlow demands faster CTV measurement reporting for advertisers

The lag in data processing creates a significant friction point for performance-driven advertisers who expect streaming to mirror the agility of search and social platforms. As CTV ad spending growth becomes more accessible to smaller brands, the inability to quickly prove return on investment may limit the sector's share of performance-based budgets. This fragmentation forces agencies to manually assemble performance stories, highlighting a critical need for standardized, high-velocity analytics across the ecosystem. Watch for whether major streaming platforms like Roku or Disney+ introduce automated, near-real-time attribution tools to bridge this reporting gap and satisfy CFO demands for immediate outcome data.

The push for faster CTV measurement reporting comes as major platforms and measurement vendors race to close the gap with digital channels. In May 2026, Roku announced expanded partnerships with Nielsen and Innovid to enable real-time attribution for its advertising clients, signaling that platform-side measurement infrastructure is advancing even as agency-side reporting remains fragmented. Roku's move reflects broader industry pressure to match the speed of search and retail media, which deliver campaign performance data within hours rather than weeks. Starcom's Kristin Haarlow has been vocal about this disparity, and her comments align with a growing chorus of agency executives demanding standardized, near-real-time CTV analytics.

On the business and regulatory front, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has been working to establish common measurement standards for CTV. In June 2026, the IAB released updated guidelines for CTV measurement that call for standardized reporting timelines and cross-platform deduplication, aiming to reduce the fragmentation that Haarlow and other agency leaders have flagged as a barrier to performance investment. Meanwhile, Nielsen announced in April 2026 that its Nielsen One platform had reached 90% coverage of CTV inventory across major streaming services, a milestone that could accelerate the shift toward unified measurement. These developments suggest that the infrastructure for faster reporting is being built, but adoption across the full CTV ecosystem remains uneven.

From a technical standpoint, independent benchmarks highlight how far CTV measurement still lags behind other digital channels. A 2026 study by the Media Rating Council found that average CTV campaign reporting latency across major platforms was 14 days, compared to under 24 hours for search and social, underscoring the performance gap that Haarlow described. The MRC also noted that only 38% of CTV impressions were being measured with accredited cross-platform methodologies, leaving a significant blind spot for advertisers seeking unified performance data. Adjacent use cases are emerging: Innovid reported in July 2026 that its AI-powered attribution engine reduced CTV reporting turnaround from 10 days to 48 hours for a subset of retail media clients, demonstrating that the technical capability for faster reporting exists but has not yet been deployed at scale across the broader CTV landscape.