Comscore Inc (SCOR) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the comScore Fourth Quarter 2022 Financial Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, John Tinker.

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎參加 comScore 2022 年第四季度財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。我現在想把會議交給今天的演講者約翰·廷克 (John Tinker)。

Thank you, operator. Before we begin our prepared remarks, I'd like to remind all of you that the following discussion contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include comments about our plans, expectations and prospects and are based on our view as of today, February 28, 2023. Our actual results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected because of a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include those outlined in our 10-K, 10-Q and other filings with the SEC which you can find on our website or at www.sec.gov.

謝謝你，運營商。在我們開始準備好的發言之前，我想提醒大家以下討論包含前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述包括對我們的計劃、預期和前景的評論，並基於我們截至 2023 年 2 月 28 日的觀點。由於存在許多風險和不確定性，我們未來期間的實際結果可能與目前預期的結果存在重大差異.這些風險和不確定性包括我們向 SEC 提交的 10-K、10-Q 和其他文件中概述的風險和不確定性，您可以在我們的網站或 www.sec.gov 上找到這些文件。

We disclaim any duty or obligation to update our forward-looking statements to reflect new information after today's call. We will be discussing non-GAAP measures during this call, for which we've provided reconciliations in today's press release and on our website. Please note that we will be referring to slides on this call, which are also available on our website www.comscore.com, under Investor Relations presentation -- Events and Presentations. I'll now turn the call over to comScore's Chief Executive Officer, Jon Carpenter. Jon?

在今天的電話會議之後，我們不承擔任何更新我們的前瞻性陳述以反映新信息的責任或義務。我們將在本次電話會議期間討論非 GAAP 措施，為此我們在今天的新聞稿和我們的網站上提供了對賬。請注意，我們將參考本次電話會議的幻燈片，這些幻燈片也可在我們的網站 www.comscore.com 上的“投資者關係演示 - 事件和演示”下找到。我現在將電話轉給 comScore 的首席執行官 Jon Carpenter。喬恩？

Thanks, John. and good evening, everyone. There have certainly been plenty of changes taking place in the environments where we compete, especially over the last year or so. And when I look back on the last year and in particular, the last 7 or 8 months or so since I've been the company's CEO, we've continued to make changes to comScore to better position our company for profitable growth and to better solidify the comScore offerings for the future, and I'm proud of the progress we are making.

謝謝，約翰。大家晚上好。我們競爭的環境肯定發生了很多變化，尤其是在過去一年左右的時間裡。當我回顧去年，特別是自從我擔任公司首席執行官以來的最後 7 或 8 個月左右時，我們繼續對 comScore 進行更改，以更好地定位我們的公司以實現盈利增長並更好地為未來鞏固 comScore 產品，我為我們正在取得的進步感到自豪。

It starts with building out a world-class team, and we've done that by adding to our already talented team and have added Greg Dale as our Chief Operating Officer; Mary Margaret Curry as our Chief Financial Officer; along with many others that ladder throughout the organization as a result of those changes, including the addition of Steve Bagdasarian, a very talented digital executive who we're excited to have lead Growth and Business Development for comScore.

它從建立世界一流的團隊開始，我們通過增加我們已經很有才華的團隊來做到這一點，並任命 Greg Dale 為我們的首席運營官； Mary Margaret Curry 擔任我們的首席財務官；以及由於這些變化而在整個組織中晉升的許多其他人，包括 Steve Bagdasarian 的加入，他是一位非常有才華的數字高管，我們很高興能夠領導 comScore 的增長和業務發展。

In addition, we made a bunch of really great progress executing on some key product deliverables that are super important to our growth going forward. We expanded key currency deals, delivered 48-hour TV data in every market. We're now the only measurement company to have this capability. And we rolled out the first major update to our digital product in many years. We launched innovation in CCR, where we are now able to deliver a cross-platform product with display and video, across desktop, mobile, linear and CTV all in one report.

此外，我們在執行一些對我們未來發展非常重要的關鍵產品交付方面取得了一系列非常大的進展。我們擴大了關鍵貨幣交易，在每個市場提供 48 小時電視數據。我們現在是唯一一家擁有這種能力的測量公司。我們推出了多年來對數字產品的第一次重大更新。我們在 CCR 中推出了創新，我們現在能夠在一個報告中提供跨桌面、移動、線性和 CTV 的跨平台產品，包括顯示和視頻。

Our comScore TV product now includes millions of virtual MVPD households ensuring our product offering continues to capture all the ways in which we, as consumers, are engaging with content, including linear TV content, which commands more than 55% of the viewing and still a significant piece of the total advertising spend. And on top of it, we delivered solid results. We grew our top line and delivered $376 million of revenue that yielded $37 million in adjusted EBITDA and our highest margin rate in 5 years.

我們的 comScore 電視產品現在包括數百萬虛擬 MVPD 家庭，確保我們的產品繼續捕捉我們作為消費者參與內容的所有方式，包括線性電視內容，它佔據了超過 55% 的觀看量，並且仍然是佔廣告總支出的很大一部分。最重要的是，我們取得了可觀的成果。我們增加了我們的收入並實現了 3.76 億美元的收入，其中產生了 3700 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA 和我們 5 年來的最高利潤率。

We're focused on execution, building on our momentum, and I'm more excited than ever about what's ahead. Before we get into 2023, I'll let Mary Margaret jump in and take us through more specifics on 2022.

我們專注於執行，建立我們的勢頭，我比以往任何時候都對未來感到興奮。在我們進入 2023 年之前，我將讓 Mary Margaret 介入並向我們介紹 2022 年的更多細節。

Thanks, Jon. As Jon just mentioned, we had a great year and achieved growth in both revenue and adjusted EBITDA for 2022. Revenue for the full year was $376.4 million, an increase of 2.6% over $367 million in 2021. Adjusted EBITDA was $37 million, up 16.1% from $31.9 million in 2021, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 9.8%.

謝謝，喬恩。正如喬恩剛才提到的，我們度過了美好的一年，2022 年的收入和調整後的 EBITDA 均實現了增長。全年收入為 3.764 億美元，比 2021 年的 3.67 億美元增長 2.6%。調整後的 EBITDA 為 3700 萬美元，增長 16.1 % 從 2021 年的 3190 萬美元，導致調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 9.8%。

When we look at revenue growth by Solutions Group, Cross-platform Solutions revenue grew 13% year-over-year from $145 million in 2021 to $163.9 million. This revenue growth was driven in large part by our local and national TV businesses, which grew nearly 26% and 13%, respectively, over 2021. We also saw growth from our movies business with revenue of $33.9 million, up 10.8% from $30.6 million in 2021 due to a rebound in the business as theaters reopened following the pandemic.

當我們查看 Solutions Group 的收入增長時，跨平台解決方案收入同比增長 13%，從 2021 年的 1.45 億美元增至 1.639 億美元。這一收入增長在很大程度上是由我們的本地和全國電視業務推動的，這兩個業務在 2021 年分別增長了近 26% 和 13%。我們的電影業務也實現了增長，收入為 3390 萬美元，比 3060 萬美元增長了 10.8% 2021 年，由於大流行病後劇院重新開放，業務出現反彈。

Revenue from Digital Ad Solutions was $212.5 million, down 4.3% from $222 million in 2021. The decline was primarily driven by a few factors. In 2021, we recognized revenue related to a multiyear contract for digital measurement in Europe that did not recur again in 2022. Additionally, our Activation business was down nearly 15% from 2021, which we really started to see playing out late in the second quarter as the broader advertising market continue to soften. We also saw a bit of pullback during the last half of the year in our custom digital solutions, which tend to be discretionary and more bespoke in nature.

數字廣告解決方案的收入為 2.125 億美元，比 2021 年的 2.22 億美元下降 4.3%。下降的主要原因有幾個。 2021 年，我們確認了與歐洲多年期數字測量合同相關的收入，該合同在 2022 年沒有再次出現。此外，我們的激活業務比 2021 年下降了近 15%，我們真正開始看到第二季度末開始發揮作用隨著更廣泛的廣告市場繼續走軟。去年下半年，我們的定制數字解決方案也出現了一些回落，這些解決方案往往是自由裁量的，本質上更像是定制的。

We mentioned these trends in last quarter's earnings call, and you'll see that they've continued into the fourth quarter as we review those results. Total revenue for the fourth quarter was $98.2 million, up 1.8% from $96.5 million in the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA was $12 million, down 3% from $12.4 million a year ago, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.2% for the quarter.

我們在上一季度的財報電話會議上提到了這些趨勢，在我們審查這些結果時，您會看到它們一直持續到第四季度。第四季度總收入為 9820 萬美元，比去年同期的 9650 萬美元增長 1.8%。調整後的 EBITDA 為 1200 萬美元，比一年前的 1240 萬美元下降 3%，導致本季度調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 12.2%。

Looking at the fourth quarter revenue growth by solutions group, Cross Platform Solutions revenue of $42.8 million grew 15.4% from $37.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. This growth was again driven by double-digit growth in our local and national TV businesses. Growth in our movies business began to level off in the fourth quarter, growing 1.8% year-over-year to $8.6 million since the majority of movie theaters have reopened in the fourth quarter of '21.

從解決方案部門的第四季度收入增長來看，跨平台解決方案收入為 4280 萬美元，較 2021 年第四季度的 3710 萬美元增長 15.4%。這一增長再次受到我們本地和全國電視業務兩位數增長的推動。自 2021 年第四季度大多數電影院重新開業以來，我們電影業務的增長在第四季度開始趨於平穩，同比增長 1.8% 至 860 萬美元。

Revenue from Digital Ad Solutions of $55.4 million was down 6.8% compared to $59.4 million a year ago. As mentioned before, this decline was primarily driven by the softening of the advertising market, which impacted both our Activation business and our custom digital solutions. We expect that macroeconomic environment may continue to impact revenue from these products as we move into 2023.

來自數字廣告解決方案的收入為 5540 萬美元，與一年前的 5940 萬美元相比下降了 6.8%。如前所述，這種下降主要是由廣告市場的疲軟推動的，這影響了我們的激活業務和我們的定制數字解決方案。我們預計，隨著我們進入 2023 年，宏觀經濟環境可能會繼續影響這些產品的收入。

Turning now to our operating expenses for 2022. In line with our expectations from last quarter's earnings call, our core operating expenses for the full year of $371.9 million came in flat compared to 2021. Looking at our core operating expenses for the fourth quarter, you can see the decline we'd expected as a result of our restructuring efforts announced in late Q3 as well as our continued discipline around cost management.

現在談談我們 2022 年的運營費用。根據我們在上一季度財報電話會議上的預期，我們全年的核心運營費用為 3.719 億美元，與 2021 年持平。看看我們第四季度的核心運營費用，您由於我們在第三季度末宣布的重組努力以及我們在成本管理方面的持續紀律，可以看到我們預期的下降。

Our core operating expenses came in at $87.9 million in the fourth quarter, down 5.4% from $92 million in the prior year. We're encouraged by the momentum that we're carrying into 2023 as we continue to focus on bringing more to the bottom line.

第四季度我們的核心運營費用為 8790 萬美元，比去年同期的 9200 萬美元下降了 5.4%。我們對進入 2023 年的勢頭感到鼓舞，因為我們將繼續專注於提高利潤。

With that, I'll send it back to Jon to talk about where we're headed.

有了這個，我會把它發回給喬恩，談談我們的前進方向。

Thanks, Mary Margaret. Today's consumers are cross-platform, viewing whatever they want, whenever, wherever and however they want, which means as someone who leads a company that's trying to keep up with all the ways in which today's connected consumer is engaging with content and measure it completely in accuracy with speed and in ways that are easy to deliver, it's certainly a massive task.

謝謝，瑪麗·瑪格麗特。今天的消費者是跨平台的，他們可以隨時隨地以他們想要的方式查看他們想要的任何內容，這意味著作為領導一家公司的人正努力跟上當今互聯消費者參與內容的所有方式並對其進行全面衡量以準確的速度和易於交付的方式，這無疑是一項艱鉅的任務。

For one, the traditional way in which viewing happens largely via pay TV is definitely facing headwinds. That said, there were more than 80 million households with a pay TV subscription in 2022. While that's under pressure, by 2024 we're still talking about more than 75 million households or nearly 60% of the U.S. based on industry projections. This stat alone is one of the biggest reasons why comScore is differentiated.

其一，主要通過付費電視收看的傳統方式肯定面臨阻力。也就是說，到 2022 年，有超過 8000 萬家庭訂閱了付費電視。雖然這面臨壓力，但根據行業預測，到 2024 年，我們仍在談論超過 7500 萬個家庭或美國近 60% 的家庭。僅此統計數據就是 comScore 脫穎而出的最大原因之一。

We have built the biggest, aggregated views of linear TV audiences across the largest portion of the viewing audience in the measurement game today, and man, we're glad we did. Others have tried for years without success. Others can certainly buy the raw material, but only comScore to date has figured out how to stitch it together and create a viable, currency-grade offering. Furthermore, not all linear TV viewing is shrinking. In fact, parts of it are growing and growing rapidly, with the rapid growth in virtual MVPDs. More than 11% of U.S. households had a virtual MVPD subscription last year, and that's expected to accelerate.

在今天的測量遊戲中，我們已經在最大部分的觀眾中建立了最大的線性電視觀眾聚合視圖，伙計，我們很高興我們做到了。其他人已經嘗試多年但沒有成功。其他人當然可以購買原材料，但迄今為止只有 comScore 想出瞭如何將其拼接在一起並創建可行的貨幣級產品。此外，並非所有線性電視收視率都在下降。事實上，隨著虛擬 MVPD 的快速增長，它的一部分正在增長並迅速增長。去年，超過 11% 的美國家庭訂閱了虛擬 MVPD，而且這一數字有望加速增長。

At comScore, we see this trend and as of January, have included virtual MVPD viewing in our comScore TV offering. This viewing, along with traditional linear viewing is available on our comScore TV product today in all markets, available nationally and delivered within an industry-leading 48 hours. We also recognize that Connected TV viewing is a big piece of how we as consumers engage with content. And as more of that viewing becomes digital, we believe more of the ad spend will start to transact even more programmatically.

在 comScore，我們看到了這一趨勢，並且從 1 月起，我們的 comScore 電視產品中包括了虛擬 MVPD 觀看。今天，我們的 comScore TV 產品在所有市場上都提供這種觀看方式以及傳統的線性觀看方式，在全國范圍內提供，並在行業領先的 48 小時內交付。我們還認識到，聯網電視觀看是我們作為消費者與內容互動方式的重要組成部分。隨著越來越多的觀看變得數字化，我們相信更多的廣告支出將開始更多地以程序化方式進行交易。

In addition to our offerings on the linear side, we have a massive footprint on the digital side as well. To put this in perspective, we measure viewing on more than 2/3 of all connected TVs in the U.S. That viewing includes direct integrations with many of the major D2C providers across media as well as ACR technology. Our direct integrations with publishers give us a more accurate, stable and reliable view of the Connected TV viewer.

除了我們在線性方面的產品外，我們在數字方面也有大量的足跡。為了正確看待這一點，我們測量了美國超過 2/3 的聯網電視的收視率。該收視率包括與許多主要 D2C 提供商跨媒體和 ACR 技術的直接集成。我們與出版商的直接集成使我們能夠更準確、穩定和可靠地了解聯網電視觀眾。

As a result of the shifting ways in which consumers are engaging with their content across devices and platforms, keeping up with how to measure all of that across content and ads has become increasingly more complex. Clearly, traditional means of measuring the activity no longer hold up and media clients are demanding more. From our perspective, solving the challenge requires a couple of key things. First, scale. That is you have a scaled view of audiences across devices and across platforms.

由於消費者跨設備和平台參與內容的方式發生了變化，跟上如何衡量跨內容和廣告的所有這些變得越來越複雜。顯然，衡量活動的傳統方式不再有效，媒體客戶的要求更高。從我們的角度來看，解決這個挑戰需要幾個關鍵的東西。第一，規模。也就是說，您擁有跨設備和跨平台的受眾規模視圖。

Second, interoperability, are you easy to work with and workflow and platform agnostic and finally, speed. Is your offering capable of producing a result in a reasonable amount of time that is actionable. At comScore, we're solving all 3, which ultimately allows us to provide our clients with the most complete view of audiences regardless of device or platform for both content and ads.

其次，互操作性，您是否易於使用以及與工作流和平台無關，最後是速度。您的產品是否能夠在合理的時間內產生可操作的結果。在 comScore，我們正在解決所有 3 個問題，這最終使我們能夠為我們的客戶提供最完整的受眾視圖，無論內容和廣告的設備或平台如何。

As I've alluded to throughout my comments, it all starts with our unmatched audience scale. We're measuring 1-in-3 U.S. households through our set-top box integrations. And through our partnerships, we have visibility into Connected TV viewing across more than 150 million screens. We have built a product that is differentiated. Not only do we have the raw material, but we've built currency-grade products that can be relied upon to transact billions of dollars in advertising. These are the inputs, if you will, into the most complete view of audiences in the market today.

正如我在評論中提到的那樣，這一切都始於我們無與倫比的觀眾規模。我們正在通過機頂盒集成測量三分之一的美國家庭。通過我們的合作夥伴關係，我們可以了解超過 1.5 億個屏幕上的聯網電視觀看情況。我們打造了一款與眾不同的產品。我們不僅擁有原材料，而且還打造了貨幣級產品，可以依靠這些產品來進行數十億美元的廣告交易。如果您願意，這些是當今市場上最完整的受眾視圖的輸入。

Again, having the raw material is different than knowing how to aggregate it and turn it into a product offering. At comScore, we've done both, which means, from our perspective, we are the company that is best positioned to help our clients solve the challenges with today's measurement offerings.

同樣，擁有原材料不同於知道如何聚合它並將其轉化為產品。在 comScore，我們做到了這兩點，這意味著，從我們的角度來看，我們是最有能力幫助我們的客戶解決當今測量產品挑戰的公司。

And we're doing it in a massive, addressable marketplace. The industry is projecting more than $400 billion of U.S. ad spend by 2024, with 2/3 of it addressable in nature. It's clear to me that the future is all about audiences, whether you're creating content or activating advertising against that content, you're trying to reach audiences. And at comScore, we believe we have the most complete view. It's not far-fetched to imagine a world in which all advertising is transacted digitally and that it will be done even more programmatically.

我們正在一個巨大的、可尋址的市場中這樣做。該行業預計到 2024 年美國的廣告支出將超過 4000 億美元，其中 2/3 是可尋址的。我很清楚，未來完全取決於受眾，無論您是在創建內容還是針對該內容激活廣告，您都在努力吸引受眾。在 comScore，我們相信我們擁有最完整的視圖。想像一個所有廣告都以數字方式進行交易並且以編程方式完成的世界並不牽強。

Our ability to leverage our audience scale, be interoperable meaning we're platform agnostic to how our clients want to transact is a critical part of our strategy, and we have a massive digital footprint that can and should fuel the programmatic ecosystems. All of this adds up to meaningful short-, mid- and long-term growth shoots, including currency expansion across both local and national, which ladders nicely to our cross-platform offerings.

我們利用我們的受眾規模的能力、可互操作性意味著我們與客戶的交易方式無關的平台是我們戰略的關鍵部分，我們擁有龐大的數字足跡，可以而且應該為程序化生態系統提供動力。所有這些加起來構成了有意義的短期、中期和長期增長芽，包括在本地和全國范圍內的貨幣擴張，這很好地適應了我們的跨平台產品。

We're also delivering on privacy for digital and programmatic solutions. And ultimately, what we've built extends beyond the current client base into new channels, think gaming and retail media networks. I'd like to think of an example of a national brand advertiser who's running a linear campaign across the top markets and a retail media network who are saying, hey, we can provide additional incrementality and performance if you ship part of the budget. Our data, the comScore footprint, across all markets can help that advertiser understand whether or not they actually got the incremental reach they were looking for and give them insights on how to adjust their campaign mid-flight across markets. That's an example of the power we've built.

我們還為數字和程序化解決方案提供隱私保護。最終，我們所建立的內容超越了當前的客戶群，進入了新的渠道，比如游戲和零售媒體網絡。我想舉一個例子，一個全國性品牌廣告商在頂級市場和零售媒體網絡上開展線性活動，他們說，嘿，如果你交付部分預算，我們可以提供額外的增量和性能。我們的數據，即 comScore 覆蓋所有市場的足跡，可以幫助廣告商了解他們是否真正獲得了他們正在尋找的增量覆蓋面，並讓他們了解如何在跨市場的廣告投放中調整廣告系列。這是我們建立的力量的一個例子。

Look, retail margins are super thin and the role that measurement can play in helping determine the effectiveness of the dollars put to work can be incredibly impactful. On currency expansion, we've talked about our opportunity here starting with local. We've been crystal clear that this is a big opportunity. We grew by more than 25% in 2022 and have an installed base across the vast majority of the major station groups that command the bulk of local TV advertising.

看，零售利潤非常薄，衡量在幫助確定投入工作的美元有效性方面可以發揮的作用可以產生難以置信的影響。在貨幣擴張方面，我們已經從本地開始討論了我們的機會。我們很清楚這是一個巨大的機會。我們在 2022 年增長了 25% 以上，並且在控制大部分本地電視廣告的絕大多數主要電視台集團中擁有安裝基礎。

We estimate that just right now 20% of it is transacting solely on comScore as the currency, which means there's plenty of greenfield here for us to continue to grow, and we are laser-focused on unlocking that opportunity. Our priorities and growth drivers remain clear and we know what we need to do. Our path forward this year is consistent with what we have been sharing in the last couple of quarters, and we feel great about the momentum that's being built.

我們估計目前有 20% 的交易僅以 comScore 為貨幣進行交易，這意味著這裡有大量可供我們繼續發展的綠地，我們正專注於釋放這一機會。我們的優先事項和增長動力依然清晰，我們知道我們需要做什麼。我們今年的前進道路與我們在過去幾個季度分享的內容一致，我們對正在建立的勢頭感到非常滿意。

We clearly talked a lot about our local story, but the reality is our capabilities extend far beyond local. The strength of what we've built supports our national business as well. In 2022, this part of our business grew 13%. We work with nearly all of the major network players, 85% of them subscribed to our offerings today. Similar to local, our national strategy looks very similar and our opportunity is equally as large.

我們顯然談論了很多關於我們當地的故事，但現實是我們的能力遠遠超出了當地。我們所建立的力量也支持我們的國家業務。 2022 年，我們這部分業務增長了 13%。我們與幾乎所有主要網絡參與者合作，其中 85% 今天訂閱了我們的產品。與本地相似，我們的國家戰略看起來非常相似，我們的機會也同樣大。

I look forward to sharing many of the exciting things that we have in the works across our client groups as we go throughout 2023. There's no doubt a lot of focused execution and product development is well underway that is in support of what we're talking about today. Our priorities are clear, the growth opportunity over the next 12, 18, 24 months is significant, and we're laser-focused on delivering for our clients and our shareholders.

我期待著在整個 2023 年與我們的客戶群體分享我們在工作中所做的許多令人興奮的事情。毫無疑問，許多重點執行和產品開發正在進行中，以支持我們正在談論的事情關於今天。我們的優先事項很明確，未來 12、18、24 個月的增長機會非常重要，我們專注於為我們的客戶和股東提供服務。

So look, our focus in '23 boils down and it's pretty simple, and it's building off of what we've done to date. It starts with currency and cross-platform expansion that builds on the foundation we have with our local and national clients and the progress that we've made. Second, we're also focused on growing our digital business, which includes accelerating our digital video and programmatic offerings. And finally, there is ample opportunity for us to expand our offerings to new channels, where we can engage the segments of the market that aren't directly thinking about traditional measurement at all but care deeply about reaching their target audiences across screens and platforms.

所以看，我們在 23 年的重點歸結起來，它非常簡單，它建立在我們迄今為止所做的事情之上。它從貨幣和跨平台擴展開始，這些擴展建立在我們與本地和國家客戶的基礎上以及我們取得的進展之上。其次，我們還專注於發展我們的數字業務，其中包括加速我們的數字視頻和程序化產品。最後，我們有充足的機會將我們的產品擴展到新渠道，在那裡我們可以吸引那些根本不直接考慮傳統測量但非常關心跨屏幕和平台接觸目標受眾的市場細分。

So before I hand it over to Mary Margaret, from our vantage point, comScore is the only company with a complete view of audiences that is able to power the future of audience-based advertising and we are heads down focused on delivering and monetizing against that capability. With that, let me turn it over to Mary Margaret, who will share the financial profiles we're keying up for 2023. Thank you.

因此，在我將其交給 Mary Margaret 之前，從我們的角度來看，comScore 是唯一一家能夠全面了解受眾的公司，能夠為基於受眾的廣告的未來提供動力，我們正專注於提供和貨幣化能力。有了這個，讓我把它交給瑪麗瑪格麗特，她將分享我們為 2023 年準備的財務概況。謝謝。

Thanks, Jon. Based on current trends and expectations, we believe our total revenue for 2023 will grow by low to mid-single digits over 2022. As Jon just laid out, there are a number of factors driving growth in 2023, including our continued focus on currency expansion in local and national TV, the return of consumers to movie theaters following the pandemic, the continued growth of our predictive audience products as well as cross-platform and new channel opportunities. All of these are anchored by our proven, syndicated revenue model that provides a predictable, repeatable revenue stream.

謝謝，喬恩。根據目前的趨勢和預期，我們認為我們 2023 年的總收入將比 2022 年增長中低個位數。正如喬恩剛才所說，有許多因素推動了 2023 年的增長，包括我們繼續關注貨幣擴張在地方和國家電視中，消費者在大流行後返回電影院，我們的預測觀眾產品的持續增長以及跨平台和新渠道的機會。所有這些都以我們經過驗證的聯合收入模式為基礎，該模式提供可預測、可重複的收入流。

For adjusted EBITDA, we expect the margin rate to be better than it was for 2022, crossing into the double digits for 2023. We believe this will put us on a path to meet our goal of exiting 2023 with a 15% quarterly margin run rate, enabling us to generate free cash flow to reinvest in the business. With that, I'll turn it back over to Jon for closing remarks.

對於調整後的 EBITDA，我們預計利潤率將好於 2022 年，到 2023 年將達到兩位數。我們相信這將使我們走上實現 2023 年 15% 季度利潤率目標的道路，使我們能夠產生自由現金流以對業務進行再投資。有了這個，我會把它轉回給 Jon 作結束語。

Thanks, Mary Margaret, and thanks, everyone, for joining this evening and online. We've got a tremendous opportunity in front of us. And I couldn't be more excited about our growth prospects and the value we'll create for shareholders. Thank you. And operator, let's open it up for questions.

謝謝 Mary Margaret，也謝謝大家參加今晚的線上活動。我們面前有一個巨大的機會。我對我們的增長前景和我們將為股東創造的價值感到無比興奮。謝謝。接線員，讓我們打開它提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Laura Martin with Needham & Company.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Needham & Company 的 Laura Martin。

So my first one, Jon, is about time. So you guys have gone from like 2 weeks to 48 hours, which is a big job, and that's really impressive. My question is, is it enough? Because a lot of your new competitors are real time in the midst of the ad campaign. So do you need to continue to shorten that window?

所以我的第一個，喬恩，是時候了。所以你們已經從大約 2 週縮短到 48 小時，這是一項艱鉅的工作，這真的令人印象深刻。我的問題是，夠了嗎？因為你的很多新競爭對手都在廣告活動中實時出現。那麼你需要繼續縮短那個窗口嗎？

So we'll look to continue -- thanks for the question, Laura. So look, we're always going to look for ways to continue to be faster. But in terms of delivering things like our comScore TV product in all markets within 48 hours, we've gotten pretty great positive feedback on that from our clients. And we believe that, that generally fits the need of the vast majority of our clients. But of course, we're always going to be looking for ways to improve speed, but we love the position that, that 48-hour delivery puts us at in market with the vast, vast majority of our client base.

所以我們會繼續——謝謝你的問題，勞拉。所以看，我們一直在尋找繼續更快的方法。但就在 48 小時內向所有市場交付 comScore TV 產品等方面而言，我們從客戶那裡得到了非常積極的反饋。我們相信，這通常可以滿足絕大多數客戶的需求。但是，當然，我們一直在尋找提高速度的方法，但我們喜歡這樣的立場，即 48 小時交貨讓我們在市場上擁有絕大多數客戶群。

Okay. And then my second. Sorry, go ahead.

好的。然後是我的第二個。對不起，繼續。

One thing to add is some of the like adjusting in-campaign ad measurement is very different from thinking about ratings like meeting real-time ratings is sort of a little different to wanting to monitor a campaign. So I think on the ad side of our business, certainly taking a lot of real-time approaches to that. But really on the rating side, it's just a little bit of a different animal. So getting -- to Jon's point, getting the right speed for the right product and use case.

要補充的一件事是，調整活動內廣告測量與考慮評級有很大不同，比如滿足實時評級與想要監控活動有點不同。所以我認為在我們業務的廣告方面，肯定會採取很多實時方法。但實際上在評級方面，它只是有點不同。因此，按照喬恩的觀點，為正確的產品和用例獲得正確的速度。

Okay. And then my second question is on product fee. So I think it's cool that you're adding ratings of the virtual MVPDs into the product, but it feels really late. And that sort of brings me to a question for you, Jon, which is -- it feels like product development at this company, it's not been a product-first company, it feels like. So am I wrong about that? And if so, like how close are you to getting to the speed of product design and speed to market that you feel you're (inaudible).

好的。然後我的第二個問題是關於產品費用。所以我認為將虛擬 MVPD 的評級添加到產品中很酷，但感覺真的很晚。這讓我想問你一個問題，喬恩，感覺就像這家公司的產品開發，它不是一家產品至上的公司，感覺就像。那我錯了嗎？如果是這樣，比如您距離您認為的產品設計速度和上市速度有多近（聽不清）。

Thanks, Laura. Greg, do you want to take that?

謝謝，勞拉。格雷格，你要拿那個嗎？

Sure. For comScore, one of the changes we're making with the management team that we've brought in is really getting us back to that product first and product-led mentality. I think in the past, comScore was known for innovating and really driving kind of changes in the marketplace. And that's a focus for us as we move forward in having the needs of the market and what we need to be driving from a product perspective come first. So I think you're going to see more of that and those types of changes coming as we move forward.

當然。對於 comScore，我們正在與我們引入的管理團隊一起做出的改變之一是真正讓我們回到產品第一和以產品為主導的心態。我認為在過去，comScore 以創新和真正推動市場變化而聞名。這是我們的一個重點，因為我們在滿足市場需求和我們需要從產品角度推動的方面取得進展。所以我認為隨著我們的前進，你會看到更多這樣的變化以及這些類型的變化。

Our next question comes from Jason Kreyer with Craig-Hallum.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jason Kreyer 和 Craig-Hallum。

Jon, I wanted to go back to that 24-hour topic. So how does the benefits of this manifest in the business? Like does this allow you to do a better job of bringing in new customers? Or is this going to help with client retention? Or are there some other benefits that maybe we're not thinking about?

喬恩，我想回到那個 24 小時話題。那麼，這樣做的好處如何體現在業務中呢？這樣可以讓您更好地吸引新客戶嗎？或者這會有助於留住客戶嗎？或者還有其他一些我們可能沒有考慮到的好處嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Jason. I mean, forgive me for the simple answer, but it really is all of the above, right? Speed matters across the board. And so everything that you just pointed out it benefits across the landscape for us from a client perspective.

是的。謝謝，傑森。我的意思是，請原諒我的簡單回答，但確實是以上所有，對吧？速度在各方面都很重要。因此，從客戶的角度來看，您剛才指出的一切對我們來說都是有益的。

And then maybe one for Mary Margaret, but on the expense side of things. Just as we move from Q4 into '23, should we assume there are incremental cost reductions from here? Or was most of that already absorbed in Q4?

然後也許是給瑪麗瑪格麗特的，但在費用方面。就像我們從第四季度進入 23 年一樣，我們是否應該假設從這裡開始逐步降低成本？或者大部分已經在第四季度被吸收了？

Yes. I think we're still looking at that. That's still a focus for us moving into '23. I think if you look at the restructuring plan that we put in place in Q3 of 2022, there's still a bit of work left to be done there. We're also, as we're moving forward, looking at ways to strategically continue to manage our costs, which are going to help us get to that increased adjusted EBITDA margin for 2023.

是的。我認為我們仍在關注這一點。這仍然是我們進入 23 年的重點。我認為，如果你看一下我們在 2022 年第三季度製定的重組計劃，那裡還有一些工作要做。在我們前進的過程中，我們也在尋找從戰略上繼續管理成本的方法，這將幫助我們在 2023 年實現調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的增長。

Okay. And I want to sneak in one last one here for Jon. Just wondering if you can talk about the fundamental trajectory you're seeing in the business today? And then how you feel about your -- the ability to satisfy existing obligations on the balance sheet as you move forward over the next couple of years?

好的。我想在這裡偷偷拿最後一張給喬恩。只是想知道您是否可以談談您今天在業務中看到的基本軌跡？然後你如何看待你 - 在未來幾年前進時履行資產負債表上現有義務的能力？

Jason, just to make sure I understand. Your first question is just around the growth profile of the company. How do I feel about that, except the one being about the balance sheet.

傑森，只是為了確保我理解。你的第一個問題是關於公司的增長情況。除了資產負債表之外，我對此有何看法。

Yes, it's all kind of wrapped together. I mean it seems like fundamentals are starting to trend a little bit more positively. As you look at the obligations you have against the preferred stock, how do you feel about those options that you have today?

是的，它們都包裹在一起。我的意思是，基本面似乎開始變得更加積極。當你審視你對優先股的義務時，你對你今天擁有的這些期權有何看法？

So look, I feel like we've got a better run company today than we've had in a long, long time. We are laser-focused on growing both the top line as well as creating a more profitable company going forward. And both of those things fuel cash flow generation that's going to go back into the business and allow us to reinvest in areas where we want to invest that are going to move us forward. And so I feel, overall, I feel really, really bullish on where we've come from and where we're headed.

所以看，我覺得我們今天的公司比過去很長很長一段時間都經營得更好。我們專注於增加收入以及創建一家未來盈利能力更強的公司。這兩件事都推動了現金流的產生，這些現金流將重新回到業務中，並使我們能夠在我們想要投資的領域進行再投資，這將推動我們向前發展。所以我覺得，總的來說，我真的非常看好我們來自哪里以及我們要去哪裡。

Our next question comes from Matthew Thornton with Truist.

我們的下一個問題來自 Matthew Thornton 和 Truist。

Maybe 2, if I could. Going back to the prior conversation around the way to think about linearity around margins in '23, I think you talked about aspiring to that 15%-plus exit rate for the year. Obviously, we just did about 12% in the fourth quarter. Should we extrapolate the 2? Or is there some linearity that we need to think about from a cost and margin perspective as we think about '23.

也許 2，如果可以的話。回到之前關於考慮 23 年利潤率線性的方式的談話，我想你談到了渴望今年超過 15% 的退出率。顯然，我們在第四季度只做了大約 12%。我們應該外推 2 嗎？或者，在考慮 23 年時，我們是否需要從成本和利潤的角度考慮一些線性問題。

And I guess just related to that, Mary Margaret, you talked about free cash flow in '23. I think you alluded to that being positive. Is there some type of conversion that you're working towards when we think about adjusted EBITDA conversion to free cash flow. I guess that would be the first question.

我想與此有關，瑪麗·瑪格麗特，你在 23 年談到了自由現金流。我想你提到的是積極的。當我們考慮將調整後的 EBITDA 轉換為自由現金流時，您是否正在努力實現某種類型的轉換？我想這將是第一個問題。

And second question, maybe for Jon. there's a lot going on in the competitive landscape, and you alluded to that as well. You've got probably your largest competitor is now the private competitors out there face a very different capital environment than where we were maybe 12 or 24 months ago. So I guess the question there is, what are you seeing just in terms of change in behavior from competitors given the new environments that they are in.

第二個問題，也許是給喬恩的。在競爭格局中發生了很多事情，你也提到了這一點。你可能有你最大的競爭對手，現在私人競爭對手面臨著與 12 或 24 個月前截然不同的資本環境。所以我想問題是，鑑於競爭對手所處的新環境，您從競爭對手的行為變化中看到了什麼。

Why don't I take the first one and Mary Margaret, you can jump in on -- yes, look, from a competitive standpoint, we like the way that our company is positioned. From a competitive standpoint, we view ourselves as a player that's got the most complete view of audiences across this ecosystem, which sets us up incredibly well when you start thinking about where the future of this is all headed.

為什麼我不拿第一個和瑪麗瑪格麗特，你可以加入 - 是的，看，從競爭的角度來看，我們喜歡我們公司的定位方式。從競爭的角度來看，我們將自己視為對整個生態系統的觀眾有最全面了解的玩家，當你開始思考這一切的未來走向時，這讓我們處於非常有利的地位。

So from a competitive standpoint, we're always going to bump into other players in the space that have got solutions. But we like the position that we're in and the completeness of our offering, I think, is what really differentiates us from the competitive set from where we sit. So that's what I would say about that. Just a comment on the margin profile for the business. Look, I think if you look at 2022, the adjusted EBITDA kind of ramped throughout the year. Our guide on the year fully contemplates kind of a similar trajectory. I don't know, Mary Margaret, if you want to add anything to that, to round out the discussion.

因此，從競爭的角度來看，我們總是會遇到該領域其他擁有解決方案的玩家。但我們喜歡我們所處的位置和我們產品的完整性，我認為，這才是真正使我們從我們所處的競爭環境中脫穎而出的地方。這就是我要說的。只是對業務的利潤率概況發表評論。看，我認為如果你看一下 2022 年，調整後的 EBITDA 會在全年呈上升趨勢。我們今年的指南充分考慮了類似的軌跡。瑪麗·瑪格麗特，我不知道你是否想添加任何內容來完成討論。

Yes. No, that's right. I think that's right. I think you should probably look at historical trending. I think that is true that just because we ended the year with a 12% margin in Q4 doesn't -- that's not where we're likely going to start for Q1 just based on how our -- cycle by cycle and timing of our business operations.

是的。不，沒錯。我認為這是對的。我想你應該看看歷史趨勢。我認為這是真的，僅僅因為我們在第四季度以 12% 的利潤率結束了這一年 - 這不是我們可能會在第一季度開始的地方，只是基於我們的 - 一個週期一個週期和我們的時間安排商業運作。

And then as it relates to generating free cash flow, we are working towards the goal of getting to a place where we are generating a decent amount of free cash flow to unlock that cash flow to be able to reinvest in the business. We had a bit of free cash flow in 2022 that went towards those restructuring efforts that we put in place in Q3, during Q4, it's critical for us to have moving forward, which is why we're so focused on getting to that 15%, that goal of that 15% run rate by the end of 2023.

然後，由於它與產生自由現金流有關，我們正在努力實現一個目標，即我們正在產生可觀數量的自由現金流，以釋放現金流，以便能夠對業務進行再投資。我們在 2022 年有一些自由現金流用於我們在第三季度進行的重組工作，在第四季度，這對我們向前邁進至關重要，這就是為什麼我們如此專注於達到那 15% ，即到 2023 年底實現 15% 運行率的目標。

Okay. That's helpful. Maybe I'll sneak one more in and then I'll jump back in the queue. The cost -- Jon, you talked about macro impact on the business, particularly around some of the transactional and project-based revenue. Can you remind us that the cost rationalization program, did that have any impact on revenue? I mean, meaning were there product lines that were removed or markets that were removed that we should think about when we think about the long-term kind of revenue base? Anything you'd call out there.

好的。這很有幫助。也許我會再偷偷加入一個，然後我會跳回到隊列中。成本——喬恩，你談到了對業務的宏觀影響，特別是圍繞一些交易和基於項目的收入。您能否提醒我們，成本合理化計劃對收入有影響嗎？我的意思是，當我們考慮長期收入基礎時，是否應該考慮刪除的產品線或刪除的市場？任何你會在那裡打電話的東西。

No. I mean, the actions that we've taken, not impacted the top line. And the way that we're approaching this as we go throughout the year is it's really about allocating the resources and optimizing the tech architecture and infrastructure around the priorities that we've laid out, and that's where we're focused. That's where our cost initiatives are centered around so that we can scale this thing more profitably and the actions that we've taken are aligned to that and the stuff -- that the actions that you'll see throughout 2023 will be aligned with that kind of broad objective.

不，我的意思是，我們採取的行動並沒有影響到頂線。我們在全年中處理這個問題的方式實際上是圍繞我們已經制定的優先事項分配資源和優化技術架構和基礎設施，這就是我們關注的重點。這就是我們的成本計劃所圍繞的地方，以便我們可以更有利可圖地擴展這個東西，我們採取的行動與那個和東西保持一致——你將在整個 2023 年看到的行動將與那種保持一致廣泛的目標。

Our Next question comes from Surinder Thind with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Surinder Thind。

This is Logan Schuh on for Surinder. Going back to your 2023 guide of low to mid-single digits, I was just wondering how the growth cadence looks throughout the year, if it's going to be more second half or kind of consistent throughout?

我是 Surinder 的 Logan Schuh。回到你的 2023 年中低個位數指南，我只是想知道全年的增長節奏如何，是否會在下半年或整個過程中保持一致？

Yes. I think that you'll see more weighting of that growth in the back half of the year for sure.

是的。我認為你肯定會在今年下半年看到這種增長的更多權重。

And I would just -- the thing that I would add there is if you think about the ad-supported side of our business, it tends to scale throughout the year, right, where you've got at least from a programmatic and digital standpoint, a quieter period and say, the first quarter through early part of the second quarter, and that side of the business will start to ramp throughout the year.

而且我只想 - 我要補充的是，如果你考慮我們業務的廣告支持方面，它往往會在全年擴展，對，你至少從程序化和數字的角度來看，一個比較安靜的時期，比如說，從第一季度到第二季度的早期，這方面的業務將在全年開始增長。

Our syndicated TV products tend to be pretty stable throughout the year. What drives kind of the ebbs and flows through the quarter would be custom work that we would be delivering on behalf of clients, and that can create some ebbs and flows quarter to quarter. But otherwise, the syndicated TV offering is pretty stable throughout the course of the year versus the digital stuff that has a ramp to it just based on the cyclicality in the ad market.

我們的聯合電視產品全年都非常穩定。推動本季度潮起潮落的是我們將代表客戶交付的定制工作，這可能會在每個季度之間造成一些潮起潮落。但除此之外，與僅基於廣告市場週期性的數字產品相比，聯合電視產品在一年中相當穩定。

Thank you. And that concludes our Q&A session. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Jon Carpenter for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我們的問答環節到此結束。我現在想將電話轉回 Jon Carpenter 以聽取任何結束語。

All right. Well, look, thanks, everybody. We really appreciate the time, and we look forward to talking to you all soon. Thank you.

好的。嗯，看，謝謝大家。我們非常感謝您抽出寶貴的時間，我們期待盡快與您交談。謝謝。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。