Cinema advertising just secured a bigger seat at the performance table. National CineMedia (NCM), the largest cinema advertising network in the US, has partnered with TransUnion to plug theatrical exposure data directly into TransUnion’s cross-platform attribution engine. The move brings cinema into the same measurement ecosystem as digital, CTV, social, and linear channels—an overdue shift in an industry obsessed with outcomes.

TransUnion’s attribution platform, built on an identity graph that covers 98% of US adults, is widely used by brands across retail, entertainment, automotive, and financial services. It measures media lift, deduplicates audiences across channels, and uncovers real-world incremental impact. By adding NCM’s NCMx dataset—an intelligence layer built from moviegoing behavior—the platform can now quantify exactly how cinema affects conversion, reach, and brand engagement.

The integration effectively turns the theater screen into a fully accountable performance channel. Advertisers can see what cinema impressions deliver, how they stack up against other formats, and how theatrical storytelling influences downstream actions such as site visits, purchases, and app engagement. In a crowded attribution market, the big screen is finally measurable at the same resolution as the small ones.

Manu Singh, NCM’s Chief Data & Innovation Officer, framed the move as the next evolution of cinema’s performance credibility. He noted that while theaters have long excelled at immersive storytelling, they haven’t always been measured with the precision of digital channels. By folding NCMx data into TransUnion’s system, the company is reinforcing cinema’s role as both a brand-building and revenue-driving channel.

The integration offers several measurable gains for advertisers:

• Cross-Channel Clarity: Cinema’s contribution sits alongside digital, CTV, and linear within one unified attribution model.

• Incremental Lift Validation: Brands can quantify conversions influenced by theatrical exposure.

• Sequenced Engagement: Identity continuity allows marketers to reach audiences at the theater and re-engage them across channels.

• Efficiency at Scale: TransUnion’s deduplication capabilities reduce wasted impressions.

• ROI Proof: Cinema’s impact becomes fully comparable with other performance-marketing channels.

For TransUnion, adding cinema data expands the granularity of cross-channel analysis. Mike Finnerty, SVP of Marketing Solutions Services, emphasized that a holistic view of campaign performance is becoming indispensable. More channels in the measurement framework mean higher confidence in optimization decisions.

The announcement also builds on NCM’s growing suite of data-led tools, including Boost, Boomerang, and Bullseye. These products already enable audience targeting, localized creative, in-theater activation, and moviegoer retargeting. Attribution integration adds the missing link—proof of impact.

The timing is noteworthy. As marketers face increasing pressure to justify spend, previously unmeasured channels will either evolve or lose budget priority. With this integration, cinema not only keeps its place in the media mix but becomes harder to overlook. The big screen now brings big data to match.

And for an industry racing toward omnichannel intelligence, this partnership pushes cinema into a new era—one where measurable outcomes matter as much as blockbuster storytelling.