Media Minute with Minsky: Cadent, CitrusAd, Peacock, ESPN+, Invrsion, Super Bowl LVI

Advanced TV experts Cadent have launched the Aperture Platform, the first cross-screen self-service platform for buyers and sellers of addressable TV advertising. The marketplace will include OTT, Addressable Set Top Box and CTV inventory from Advanced TV providers such as DISH and SlingTV, along with other MVPDs and national TV networks.

Ofcom, the U.K. equivalent of the FCC, has called for the renewal of the public service media system with a massive overhaul to ensure that it can exist in the digital era.

Advertising Agency and Data Holding Company Publicis has acquired CitrusAd, an ad-serving and digital back-end platform for the retail industry. CitrusAd currently handles the advertising infrastructure for companies such as Target; Kohl’s; Lowe’s; Macy’s; ShopRite; Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and others.

Cloud data company Snowflake announced they are joining the Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) open web ad identifier program. Unified ID 2.0, originally started by The Trade Desk, has garnered support as a non-cookie-based ID system. It uses consumers’ anonymized e-mail addresses which are gathered from a user logging into a website or app (mobile or connected TV). The addition of Snowflake, a company that sits as a hub for many companies’ customer and identity data graphs, allows them to match and recombine first-party data sets that can be translated into UID2 IDs.

Comcast's OTT play Peacock has gathered around $500MM in Upfront commitments, bringing total digital commitments at NBCU to $1.5B.

No fire sales this year on Super Bowl ads with price tags running a record $5.8 - $6.2 million for a 30-second spot. According to reports from NBC, 85% of its Super Bowl inventory is sold out.

Verizon Media has launched a new measurement tool, the Unified TV Report, which unites linear and digital audience validation. The report provides an overall GRP across target audiences as well as cost per HH. It also plugs into Verizon's ConnectID, which is built off of Verizon’s Identity Graph with supplemental data from Vizio and Nielsen.

Disney announced that the cost of ESPN+ will be going up by $1 to $6.99/month or $69.99 per year. The price hike is balanced by the incremental live sports content to which subscribers will have access, including exclusive access to over 75 NHL games per year, NFL games, and live coverage of Wimbledon. For now, the bundled price for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ is not changing and will remain $13.99 per month. According to Disney, as of May 2021 there were 13.8 million subscribers to ESPN+ with ARPU of $4.55/month.

According to Kantar, the Tokyo Olympics will bring in $2.25B in ad revenue, an increase of 20% from the 2016 Summer Games. However, in Japan, Toyota has pulled its ads out of the Olympics due to the increasing incidence of COVID-19 that is causing some athletes to withdraw or be quarantined in the Olympic Village.

Congratulations to 3D Imaging and VR Commerce company Invrsion on being named a 2021 IDC Innovator. Invrsion is working with marketers to evolve e-Commerce from 2D flat photography to 3D interactive renders more apropos for a 5G world.

Cinema continued its comeback this past weekend with King Lebron in Space Jam: A New Legacy bringing in $31.56MM in box office, despite being available for free on HBO Max.

For years, it has been rumored that Netflix would start some type of gaming service, and now it looks like it's actually happening. The company has hired Mike Verdu, a former EA and Facebook/Oculus exec, to lead the new offering which is expected to launch sometime this year.

Congrats to Apple+ and everyone involved with Ted Lasso (which I highly recommend) on receiving 20 Emmy nominations. The second season of the much-needed uplifting show is now on Apple TV+.

According to an article in Ad Age, TikTok is integrating video delivery platform Vimeo's video creation tools into TikTok Ads Manager which will allow Vimeo creators to drop their own branding into TikTok-ready templates.

MediaVillage congratulates Adrienne Roark on being named President, CBS Stations.

Congrats to Anthony Matsur, formerly of Nexstar, has been named CEO of the IAB Tech Lab.

Congrats to John Piontkowski, who has assumed the role of Vice President, Global Head of Sales and Account Management at Verizon Media.

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