Exclusive: Fifty5Blue to take minority stake in Origin, enters talks with Isba
Exclusive
Isba, the trade body for UK advertisers, is in exclusive talks to partner with media measurement company Fifty5Blue over the future of cross-media measurement initiative Origin, The Media Leader has learned.
The two organisations are actively working to finalise an agreement that would see Fifty5Blue invest an unspecified sum in Origin as part of an effort to accelerate its development.
An agreement could occur as soon as September, with a transaction finalised by late November.
The partnership would come as Isba continues the process of spinning off Origin as its own company. Under the deal, Isba plans to retain majority ownership of Origin to ensure the initiative remains “industry-governed” and “advertiser-led”, despite the introduction of investment from Fifty5Blue.
Formerly known as Kantar Media, Fifty5Blue already runs Origin’s panel collection. The company was spun off by Kantar last year and rebranded in February.
The Media Leader understands Isba and Fifty5Blue have been in discussions for months, with the trade body also considering a variety of other potential new investors before settling on Fifty5Blue. Internal plans for Origin to eventually become a multi-stakeholder business have existed since 2022.
Simon Michaelides, director general of Isba, told The Media Leader Isba is “delighted to partner with Fifty5Blue to accelerate [Origin’s] roadmap and meet advertiser needs”.
He added: “Origin is a hugely important initiative for advertisers and remains a top priority for Isba. The programme is critical to delivering a world-first in cross-media measurement, and therefore to marketing effectiveness.”
Fifty5Blue CEO Patrick Béhar said the measurement company is “committed to supporting Origin’s mission with further investment to accelerate innovation for advertisers.
“This increased collaboration with Isba is clear evidence of our focus on innovation and partnership across the entire media ecosystem.”
Move follows leadership turnover at Origin
Isba first announced Origin would spin off as its own separate entity in 2024, revealing at the time a £52m funding raise. That cash was spent on building out Origin’s tech stack and the Fifty5Blue panel.
The Media Leader understands the further investment from Fifty5Blue would be in support of improving Origin’s UI and API and expanding its capabilities into mixed-media modelling (MMM) and planning.
While Isba director general Simon Michaelides told The Media Leader late last year that Origin was operating independently of the trade body, recent staff turnover at Origin has meant Isba has retaken greater responsibility over the project in recent months.
Origin CEO Tom George stepped down in May and was replaced by Isba’s director of media Steve Chester on an interim basis.
According to Companies House filings, former Isba director general Phil Smith, who had been advising Origin since November 2025, also resigned as Origin’s director in February. David Poyser, Isba’s director of finance and administration, also resigned from his role as Origin’s secretary in June.
Origin’s chief research officer, Joe Lewis, also announced he left the business this week, writing he had “decided to step down and look for a new challenge.”
Timeline for expansion
Origin launched to the full UK market in July 2025 following a beta that included 30 of the UK’s largest advertisers. Since then, uptake of the service has been relatively limited, with just under 70 participating brands. Advertisers using the service have generally been large; collectively, the group’s annual media spend is estimated at £3bn.
In recent conversations with The Media Leader, multiple agency strategists and brand marketers have offered mixed reviews of Origin, with modest enthusiasm caused in part because it hasn’t yet delivered on a full cross-media view. Some strategists have said they have gotten use out of the initiative, however.
At launch last July, Origin only included audience data from linear TV, online video and online display. TikTok and Amazon were onboarded later in 2025, while cinema data is “hoped” to be added by the end of 2026. Additional video providers are likewise expected to be added this year.
Publishers and direct mail have also committed to joining, with uncertain timelines. Origin’s former leadership also said it aimed to add channels such as OOH and audio. It is not clear whether discussions over Isba’s new business structure have delayed such timelines.
Origin claims to cover roughly 60% of the total UK ad market, primarily because of its integration with dominant tech giants, the likes of which helped fund the project during its “teenage years”.
More recently, Origin has moved to a funding structure centred around a levy on advertisers using the service. The Media Leader understands there are not currently plans to move away from this funding model, though it could be adapted in the long term.
Agreeing upon standards
Since Origin’s launch in 2019, the effort has been fraught with debate over measurement standards and technical challenges that led to an extended development timeline. Its original request for proposal (RFP) in 2021 specified the panel would need to cover 10,000 adults and measurement would need to meet joint-industry currency (JIC) standards.
What ultimately launched, however, was a separate 2,500-person proprietary panel, run by Fifty5Blue (then Kantar Media) that bypassed TV JIC Barb. This occurred due to a rift over measurement standards.
Barb conceded in 2024 to lower its own measurement standard from minute-by-minute reporting to second-by-second reporting to meet international Media Rating Council (MRC) standards for viewing. However, Origin sought to produce reporting that showed all measurable impressions — even those that do not meet MRC standards for viewability.
A plan was tabled in 2024 to potentially produce a hybrid reporting model that incorporated both, however this has not made it to market. The Media Leader understands conversations between Barb and Isba remain ongoing, with Barb’s new CEO Caroline Davey managing relations since her appointment in June.
At a recent roundtable held under Chatham House rule and hosted by The Media Leader in partnership with audience measurement platform AudienceProject, a media director for a major CPG brand said it is “still a massive issue” not to have one unified, cross-media view, pointing to continued demand for the promise of Origin.
Equivalence in media measurement standards, they acknowledged, has been “holding back unification”, with different media channels — particularly TV — disagreeing on what should qualify as a view. Platforms, one attendee added, have also been too reticent to provide sufficient details about share of voice.
For Origin’s part, its leadership has consistently stated the business has no interest in supplanting existing trading currencies, viewing its product as an efficiency metric aimed at audience deduplication, rather than an effectiveness metric.
Origin Story, the timeline
- 2019: Isba launches Origin, a cross-media measurement initiative backed by the UK advertiser community
- 2021: Request for proposal issued, specifying a 10,000-person panel meeting joint-industry currency (JIC) standards
- 2024: Isba announces Origin will spin off as an independent company; a £52m funding raise is revealed
- 2024: Barb moves from minute-by-minute to second-by-second reporting to meet Media Rating Council standards; Origin and Barb remain at odds over viewability thresholds
- July 2025: Origin launches to the full UK market, using a 2,500-person proprietary panel run by Fifty5Blue
- Late 2025: TikTok and Amazon onboarded; Origin claims coverage of around 60% of the UK ad market
- February 2026: Phil Smith, former Isba director general and an Origin director, resigns from the role
- May 2026: CEO Tom George steps down; Isba’s director of media, Steve Chester, is appointed interim CEO
- June 2026: David Poyser resigns as Origin’s company secretary
- July 2026: Chief research officer Joe Lewis departs
- July 2026: Isba and Fifty5Blue announce exclusive investment discussions, with Isba retaining majority ownership
- September 2026 (planned): Both parties aim to reach agreement
- Late November 2026 (planned): Transaction expected to conclude.
The future of Isba and Origin — with Simon Michaelides and Phil Smith