Hurrah. After years of talking about it, Virtual Oz (VOZ) launched on 1 January as the currency for the television industry. Maybe we should blame the time of year but it was an industry event that largely went uncommented on.

It deserved more recognition.

VOZ has been a long time coming, and its implementation marks a critical milestone for the industry.

Equally it’s not without its flaws.

Firstly, we should start by acknowledging that providing a measurement system with a consistent methodology across linear and digital video has been long called for. Despite numerous travails, OzTAM is to be credited for creating VOZ and finally giving marketers a picture of linear broadcast viewing and BVOD into a single, deduplicated metric. This is a win for advertisers, agencies, and broadcasters alike.

An incomplete picture   

The challenge for the free-to-air TV networks is that the new VOZ picture is increasingly incomplete. I would argue it doesn’t reflect the consumption of the majority of Australians. 

As anyone who has turned on a smart TV in the last 10 years can tell you, television in Australia is no longer simply Channel Seven vs Channel 9 vs Channel 10. While VOZ includes Broadcast Video On Demand (read: 7Plus, 9Now 10Play and SBS OnDemand), there remain significant blind spots in online video measurement – particularly in areas like social video and the wider premium online video. 

These gaps represent "dark matter" in the video consumption landscape that brand marketers want and need to see addressed in order to reflect true consumer behaviour in television in 2025. 

Recently the likes of Variety and media futurist Evan Shapiro rightly challenged the global perception that Netflix won the global streaming wars, noting that in time spent YouTube is the true victor. 

Late last year, our media agency conducted research (interviewing 1,000-plus people) that reinforced this growing picture where the global streaming giants – be they Netflix, YouTube or other players like Disney, Prime, or Samsung – are making up an important and growing part of Australian TV consumption. 

A couple of proof points to underline this: as TV reaches its digital inflection point, 45 per cent of respondents reported that they watched an ad supported SVOD in the last 30 days. Within that market Netflix appears to be the clear leader with 67 per cent saying they watched via the platform – and around a third of that audience told us they watched via Netflix's ad supported tier. Amid reports of Netflix having around six million subscribers in Australia, this represents a sizeable and important part of the TV consumption picture – one which isn’t part of the VOZ picture. 

It’s a similar picture for Prime Video and Disney where our research showed around 38 per cent of those surveyed had watched the platforms in the past 30 days. Interestingly, half of Prime Video users were on the ad tier (not a surprise when Amazon Prime is largely an add-on to their ecommerce play), while only a quarter of Disney viewers were watching their ad tier. 

This data is invaluable for marketers and media planners alike. While the launch of VOZ is a cause for celebration, it's also essential for all parts of the ecosystem to recognise that it's just one step on the road towards a truly comprehensive TV measurement system.

As viewing habits continue to evolve, we need to push for a "Total TV" approach that encompasses all forms of video content consumption, regardless of device or platform. However, some of the politics within the television industry appears to prevent us from reaching the nirvana of unification. 

2025: Peace makes plenty?

The television and video market appears to have split into two clear camps. On one side, you have the traditional free-to-air networks (Seven, Nine, 10 who own OzTAM) and on the other side you have the streamers, led by Mark Frain and Foxtel Media who have now coalesced Amazon Advertising, Disney Advertising, Samsung Ads, SBS on Demand, Vevo and YouTube into the Video Futures Collective. 

While the Video Futures Collective has not yet launched an OzTAM rival currency for all of those constituents, Foxtel is now in market with its own Kantar currency. 

This move ignores the history of competing technologies (e.g., VHS vs Betamax, HD DVD vs Blu-ray) that shows industry unification is critical. Just as niche entertainment verticals like gaming or – dare I say – pornography influenced broader adoption, online video measurement needs a single, industry-wide solution. 

VOZ has the potential to serve as that unifying standard but it requires a shift in mindset for OzTAM shareholders to recognise that the success of VOZ relies on the entire ecosystem – vendors, agencies, and brands – leaning in and fully embracing the system. 

Despite trade headlines implying that TV is in decline, the medium still represents an important part of media spend for many major brands and billions of dollars collectively. 

Marketers and agencies are eager for a complete picture of TV consumption in Australia as we find it in 2025. Collaboration will be the key to ensuring its value and success in the long term. 

The launch of VOZ demonstrates what we can achieve when we work together towards a common goal.

But true industry progress requires us to put the needs of the brands we serve first and will depend on collaboration across networks, agencies, and advertisers to create a unified measurement standard that accurately reflects evolving viewer habits.