The Center for Data Innovation recently spoke with Lucas Bertrand, CEO of Looper Insights, a U.K.-based company that uses data analytics to help media companies track and optimize how film and TV content appears on digital platforms. Bertrand discussed how Looper Insights helps clients measure content visibility and make more informed marketing decisions.
David Kertai: What does Looper Insights offer?
Lucas Bertrand: Looper Insights is a software platform that helps media companies see how their content, such as TV shows, movies, and apps, is displayed on smart TVs and other streaming devices. We track more than 250 types of connected TV devices in 25 countries, and we also monitor 600 online video stores in 120 countries.
Our clients include studios, streaming services, broadcasters, and content owners. They use our platform to understand how their titles are positioned, promoted, and discovered by viewers. By collecting and analyzing what users actually see on these screens, we help companies measure performance, assess the impact of promotions, and improve both paid advertising and editorial strategies. This gives them the insights they need to reach more viewers, increase engagement, and make better decisions about marketing and content investments.
Kertai: Can you explain the Media Placement Value (MPV) metric and how it was developed?
Bertrand: Standing out on digital platforms is essential for content providers. When content is easy to find, it draws more viewers, which leads to higher engagement and revenue. We created the Media Placement Value (MPV) to solve a key problem: there was no standard way to measure how valuable a piece of on-screen placement really was.
MPV assigns a score based on where and how prominently content appears in the user interface—essentially, how close it is to where viewers are likely to look. From there, we expanded the system to include estimates of dollar value and reach (as $MPV and pMPV, which put a monetary figure on placement and predict impressions using ad pricing data). These tools help clients evaluate content visibility the same way they would traditional media inventory, using consistent, comparable metrics across platforms.
Kertai: How does Looper Insights combine data from multiple sources to track and optimize content performance?
Bertrand: We’ve built custom hardware and software that collects data directly from Connected TV devices around the world, including smart TVs, set-top boxes, and gaming consoles. Our technology scans what appears on-screen and interprets the layout the way a human would, recording where content is placed and how visible it is across platforms like Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV.
We then combine that with outside data, such as advertising rates, device market share, and performance benchmarks. This allows us to turn what’s on the screen into structured data our clients can analyze. The result is a full picture of how their content is being displayed and how that visibility connects to outcomes like viewer engagement or revenue. (We also factor in metrics like CPM and ROI where relevant.)
Kertai: In what ways does Looper Insights help studios and broadcasters use data to drive content discovery and engagement?
Bertrand: We give studios and broadcasters visibility into something that was previously invisible, how their content is surfaced across the digital storefronts. That’s powerful because in today’s fragmented streaming landscape, visibility is directly tied to performance, and it’s getting incredibly competitive in this industry. Clients use our data to evaluate campaign impact, compare performance across competitors, and pinpoint high-value opportunities for visibility, engagement, and conversion. For example, our recent work with AMC Networks enabled them to forecast performance for major releases like The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, align their strategy across partners, and optimize investment toward placements that delivered the most impact.
Kertai: What challenges have you faced and what is your vision for Looper Insights’ future role in the entertainment space?
Bertrand: The biggest challenge for us has been building a system that can scale effectively across a diverse and constantly evolving digital ecosystem. Each Connected TV platform differs, not only by device, but also by region, interface layout, and frequency of updates. As new storefronts, devices, and release strategies emerge, we’ve had to develop a flexible architecture that adapts without compromising accuracy. Delivering consistent, reliable insights across all platforms and markets has required ongoing testing and refinement. That consistency is crucial, as our clients rely on our data to support high-stakes marketing and investment decisions.
Looking ahead, we see Looper Insights becoming the standard source for measuring digital storefront performance, with our core metrics serving as industry-standard metrics. As content continues shifting to Connected TV and platforms grow more competitive and algorithm-driven, the ability to measure and monetize content placement will be essential. Our goal is to be the go-to platform that links visibility to ROI, not just for global streamers, but also for local broadcasters, studios, and platforms. We’re already seeing our metrics shape release strategies, guide placement negotiations, and even influence marketing creativity, and we believe this is just the beginning.
