Sinclair’s Brian Hunt on Helping Local Advertisers Target Cord-Cutters

Hunt pictured above head of Over the Top and Connected TV Ad Sales at Sinclair Broadcast Group is particularly excited about their new product because he feels itamp8217s sorely needed in the marketplace as a way for local advertisers to reach the increasing number of viewers who have cut the cable cord and are now streaming programmingamp160 I recently spoke with Hunt about how CompulseOTT can fill the void in the marketplaceKathy Newbergeramp160 What is CompulseOTT and what does it mean for advertisersBrian Huntamp160 Itamp8217s an advanced television video addelivery platform that lets advertisers in local DMAs target viewers through reputable and validated datatargeting sets amp160In essence weamp8217re aggregating impressions from leading overthetop providers and platformsamp160and selling those in local DMAsamp160 You could see one of the commercials distributed by our CompulseOTT platform if youamp8217re watching an app like Sling Crackle Discovery Major League Baseball even Sinclairamp8217s own NewsOn app on a connected device like Roku or PlayStation or on a smart TVFor advertisers the major distinction and benefit that we bring is really delivering the cordcutter audienceamp160 We are an extended reach product for many advertisersamp160 Frankly weamp8217re bringing them a new audience targeting cordcutters and cordnevers which is a mutually exclusive audience from the TV Everywhere audienceamp160 According to the Video Advertising Bureau seventyone percent of viewers in the US have at least one OTT service so this is a category thatamp8217s beginning to get its own budget line on media plansNewbergeramp160 How does this Sinclair offering differ from other ways advertisers can buy this type of inventory Huntamp160 Weamp8217re working with one of the leading digital measurement companies and using their data their validated data a really important phrase there for our targetingamp160 So our reporting is with validated data targeting sets amp160For example let39s say the advertiser is trying to reach a female 1849amp160 We know the IP address or the user ID or device IDamp160 We have a datamanagement platform that we utilize to match the thirdparty data to the IPamp160 Furthermore we can buy different data sets so through IHS Polk Automotive we could identify intent to purchase a midsized Sedanamp160 We literally can match up a female 1849 who is an intender and in the market to buy a midsized vehicleAnd thereamp8217s robust reporting on thatamp160 We can report on how many women in that demo we reached on a local DMA basisamp160 Itamp8217s the local DMA basis thatamp8217s news people have been able to do this nationally but local advertisers needed this solution amp160Our bullseye is the local DMANewbergeramp160 A few years ago some of the national OTT programmers were seeing challenges with targeted inventory amp160they didnamp8217t have enough and so some advertisers were turned away or saw prices skyrocket and some viewers saw unusually high frequency amp160Is inventory an issue for youHuntamp160 OTT usage is really growing so much that itamp8217s not an issueamp160 We39re working with most of the distributors and content aggregators who have a lot of scale in the OTT world and it literally is growing exponentially each month so that is becoming less and less of a concern amp160and in the top 75 DMAs having enough OTT impressions to sell is not an issue at allNewbergeramp160 Can you tell me about how your sales force is going to go to market Who are the ideal advertisers to use CompulseOTTHuntamp160 Each of our 1000 sales reps has to get certified to sell the CompulseOTT product which can really be sold to anyone because we can sell on a DMA basis or a zip code basisamp160 When we sell on a zip code targeted basis itamp8217s with a radius around a particular store amp160So anyone that previously had bought or currently is buying cable can frankly replicate thatamp160 I think the major distinction and benefit that we bring is that we39re really delivering the cordcutter audienceamp160 An advertiser who39s buying linear cable and TV Everywhere is getting the same linear cable subscriber in both casesamp160 In fact if you39re buying both you39re literally getting the same person twice just on different platforms delivery mechanismsamp160 We39re really targeting users of Sling Sony Vue and Roku which is a pure cordcutter audience thatamp8217s mutually exclusive from the cable audienceNewbergeramp160 If I39m an agency person what should I keep in mind about CompulseOTTamp160 Huntamp160 We have aggregated OTT inventory from almost all of the top providersamp160 We make it easy in one transaction to buy any DMA in the country or all the DMAs in the country with individual creative and individual impression countsamp160 Itamp8217s a onestopshopamp160 We also have 2000 individual data segments we can match against with validated data and have a very competitive CPM and leading validated daily reporting dashboardsNewbergeramp160 What makes you different from other ways of buying this type of inventoryHuntamp160 We have direct contractual relationships with those top OTT providers which allows us to have guaranteed delivery of the impressions by DMAamp160 When you buy an exchange the inventory may or may not be there and the pricing could really fluctuateamp160 We solve those problemsamp160 On some of the exchanges you don39t know the inventory that you39re buying it39s some longtail contentamp160 We39ve got a lot of the top premium contentamp160 Having a team of OTTcertified reps makes a big difference tooTo further explain how CompulseOTT aligns with Sinclairamp8217s other digital products its Corporate Vice President and Head of Digital Ad Sales Ryan Moore added that itamp8217s a TV product amp8220because 80 of OTT is viewed on a TV but has all the same digital targeting and delivery metricsamp8221 amp160He also feels itamp8217s a great complement to the Sinclair existing portfolio digital preroll video station news sitesamp160and other digital marketing verticals as the marketplace evolves citing the auto category as an example amp160amp8220We have a very advanced digital auto product called amp8220drive autoamp8221 that will have many future opportunities to crosstarget verticals and attribution for the same campaign and reportingamp8221Click the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Sinclair’s Brian Hunt on Helping Local Advertisers Target Cord-Cutters

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Sinclair’s Brian Hunt on Helping Local Advertisers Target Cord-Cutters

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