comScore, Inc.

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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, May 7th, 2024. 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-Q and other filings with the SEC which you can find on our website or at www.sec.gov. 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, which we have 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, Events, and Presentations. I'll now turn the call over to ComScore's Chief Executive Officer, John Carpenter. John.

Thanks, John, and thanks, everyone, for joining us this evening. We've made some significant progress as we work to transform the business, and we've seen plenty of changes in the markets we serve. Given the ever-changing nature of the market where audience fragmentation across screens and devices is increasing and the way advertising is bought and sold is becoming both more digital and more programmatic, Comscore is focused on delivering cross-platform solutions that are built to measure the multi-screen world we are living in. We remain a leading cross-platform measurement choice for advertisers and agencies, platforms and publishers, and one that is anchored by an MRC-accredited TV audience measurement product for both local and national. We're the only measurement player with this distinction. We're also certified by the U.S. JIC as one of only two cross-platform measurement companies deemed transactable. based on the standards set out as part of that review. While there is clearly work to be done, and despite headwinds in parts of the market we continue to serve, Comscore has made substantial progress already in 2024. Our adjusted EBITDA in Q1 was up 55% versus the same quarter a year ago as a result of our cost discipline and growth in our cross-platform products. Proximate by Comscore, our cross-platform activation business, saw 75% growth in the impressions we serviced in Q1 of 24 versus the same quarter a year ago. We continue to see tangible evidence of the impact that our AI-enabled cross-platform audience solutions are having an impact on the market. Recently, AdExchanger named Proxemic one of their 2024 programmatic power players, another in a series of announcements that recognize Comscore as an innovator and disruptor amid accelerating change in advertising and privacy regulation. Given recognition like that, it's not a surprise that revenue for our cross-platform product suite was up 28% in the first quarter as adoption continued to accelerate. With several key platform partner integrations underway, we expect rapid growth to continue for these products as we move through the year. As I alluded to at the outset, we received MRC accreditation earlier this year for both local and national TV measurements. along with JIC certification as a transactable cross-platform currency. That's something that no other measurement company can claim. Comscore TV is the first big data TV measurement product to receive MRC accreditation. It's a major milestone for both Comscore and for the industry. We're now the only TV measurement solution with accreditation for both national and local television measurements. At the end of the day, what these certifications mean is that the industry has decided that our TV and cross-platform products are transparent and can be trusted by the buyers and sellers of billions of dollars in advertising, and that Comscore is a leading choice for measuring TV and cross-platform audiences for the industry. We saw more than $4 billion in advertising trade on Comscore currency in 23, a number we fully expect to grow in 24 and beyond. Looking at the first quarter, in terms of results, it was certainly a mixed bag. Revenue was down 5% from a quarter a year ago, and while we did expect Q1 to be softer year over year, as we noted in our last call, we did end up coming short of where we expected. However, adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was up 55% to $8.1 million, a testament to our continued discipline in managing costs and our work streamlining our products. And despite the revenue print, there is a lot to be excited about as we continue to transform the business. We see persistent, robust, double-digit growth in our cross-platform products, which is evidence that our strategy of helping clients optimize for a world where linear, connected TV, and digital need to be managed holistically, and that's working. A meaningful contributor to the shortfall in revenue to note was a number of platform integrations that are currently underway that are just taking longer to scale than what was originally planned. As we continue to transform the business and derive a greater share of our revenue from the usage of our cross-platform products, that is, billing on a CPM basis rather than a syndicated fee, integration delays like this shift the timing of revenue but not our confidence in it as we execute this transformation. As a reminder, much of our revenue today is made up of syndicated fees from contracts signed in prior quarters and, in some cases, prior years. For example, approximately 20 percent of our revenue in the first quarter was directly attributable to contracts that closed in 24, whereas more than 30 percent of it was from contracts signed 2022 or earlier. As transactional revenue becomes a more significant portion of our top line and we anniversary legacy contracts, we expect to see continued growth accelerate. With that, let me turn it over to Mary Margaret to take you through the quarter in a bit more detail.