Spectrum Reach Turns Its Ad Management On Auto "Pilot"

That element is Pilot, an automated cloud-based order management platform which houses information on linear channel ad buys Spectrum Reach employees track, then carry out on-air. The platform allows employees to make adjustments on the fly to a sponsor's campaign flight on one or more cable networks, using the two or three minutes allotted operators for local sale each hour.

Pilot was developed and designed by ShowSeeker, an ad sales management technology organization in business since 2003. The Spectrum Reach deployment of Pilot is the company's largest yet. ShowSeeker counts Charter as a long-time user of its handiwork, along with top-10 cable operator Mediacom and a number of small multi-system owners.

"We launched the platform as our dedicated order management system after collaborating with ShowSeeker to create a solution to optimize the order entry process," explained Chris Faw, Spectrum Reach's Senior Vice President Of Operations in a released statement. "Pilot not only streamlines our workflows, but also equips us with a modernized solution that adapts to the evolving demands of both linear television and advanced advertising."

"They understood we had the ability to expand and have the types of tools we could build for them. They gave us a vote of confidence with a proof of concept to show this (system) could wok to modernize the architecture so much better and prepare them for future changes in the industry," added ShowSeeker Vice President of Operations and Strategy Jeff Blaszak. "We're all about finding the solutions that help the workflow for our customers."

Going into Thanksgiving Week 2023, Spectrum Reach has deployed Pilot throughout its entire ad sales infrastructure, available to Charter systems across 36 states and 91 designated market areas nationwide. More than 290,000 national, regional and local ad sales orders have been generated so far.

At first, Pilot's management hardware and software technology was developed and geared to help cable customers enjoy a better experience searching for the programming most relevant to them. Upon further review, ShowSeeker made the call to format their process for ad sales. "We're making life easier for those sellers working on behalf of their customers, and putting together campaigns that are very effective, regardless of their schedules."

With the ability to handle sudden adjustments or wholescale revisions to an ad campaign's flight, Pilot has helped cut down the amount of time and labor Spectrum Reach employees devote on those situations. "What would normally take an hour for somebody to work on (manually) can be accommodated in just a few minutes, or under 20 minutes for sure," Blaszak clarified. "The feedback has been extremely positive."

For 2024, Spectrum Reach and ShowSeeker plan to expand their order management arrangement to handle addressable ad campaigns and fashion new Pilot features or applications dovetailing with the coming wave of interactive advertising and commerce. Conversations underway between both companies include employee training in workflow development and practices.

"This is continued, ongoing collaboration," Blaszak maintained. "Not a matter of dropping the software off and walking away. Pilot also needs to be prepared for changing dynamics in the ad industry."

As that process moves forward, ShowSeeker executives are exploring the ideas of selling Pilot platforms to smart TV set and device makers, now growing their ad sales business, and fashioning Pilot upgrades that include some level of artificial intelligence functionality. There's absolutely a role for the latter, Blaszak declared. "We have to figure out where AI can be most useful for our customers. It's figuring out where the needs are."

Click the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friends.
The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.org/MyersBizNet.