The Secret Society’s Challenge to Programmatic TV

This meeting which included a record 60plus attendees focused on four presenters Rob Weisbord Chief Operating Officer Sinclair Digital Group Sinclair Broadcasting Frank Foster Principal of Carlyle Partners and Harvey Kent Vice President Strategy and Judd Rubin Vice President Revenue Development both of Strata Follow this link to learn more about the Secret SocietyMy Take I didnamp8217t attend the Secret Society meeting but several of the presenters provided details to me during later conversations The crux of the discussion at previous Secret Society meetings has been on data duplication in advanced TV platforms such as programmatic TV and addressable TV when the same datasets are licensed across several data vendor services This is not an easy issue to fix But efforts are underway to utilize datasets in a way that answers questions and solves redundancy issues Weisbordamp8217s use of single source smart TV data Fosteramp8217s data linkage and Strataamp8217s investment in developing workflow processes to enable the advertising community to seamlessly purchase inventory across all datainfused platforms are interesting approaches to help solve these issues so that they can be integrated into our media community In my opinion the next step is the creation of an industry standardSinclair Broadcasting which owns 164 TV stations covering 40 of the US is currently in partnership with Videology and maintains a crossplatform data warehouse for consumer matching with computer mobile and connected TVs Further their joint venture with Visible World is focused on a solution to evolve programmatic TV platforms to better serve media constituencies Their latest venture involves addressable TV using the ACR software integrated in smart TVs This is set to deploy this yearamp8221We are focused in the short term on addressable pulling data from Smart TVsamp8221 Weisbord explainedamp160 amp8220Videology accesses data from 20 different sources and Sorenson will deploy decoder boxes that reach 40 of US smart TV data We want to learn what content is resonating with the viewer Do our promos result in tune in or not All TVs sold today are smart TVs with the ACR built in This is unique data that will enable us to see true consumer behavioramp8221The challenges in rolling out programmatic TV include data origination compilation and developing historical trends amp8220Data collected from different providers and devices is not the sameamp8221 Foster said amp8220One device might collect data from every box in the house and another only from the main device Some providers collect from every household while others only a rolling sample Satellite providers have data from every DMA while cable operators are limited to the geographies associated with their franchise agreementsamp8221 Additionally there are differences in how much data is collected amp8220Some systems collect data associated with every channel change while others require that the set top box be tuned to a channel for a set amount of time called dwell time before the data is deemed important enough to saveamp8221 Foster noted amp8220When you begin to compile data with such different parameters the resulting dataset may be similar to a low resolution photograph a fuzzy picture that may or may not accurately represent the truth and may or may not allow you to generate reliable trendsamp8221There is also a desire to enhance the value of data by linking it to other datasets and tracking viewership across devicesamp160 amp8220Watching television on your mobile device and matching across media platforms is becoming more importantamp8221 Foster noted amp8220How are you linking viewership Are you using cookies billing addresses IP addresses zip codes or some other common feature To understand the errors assumptions and biases associated with crossplatform viewership you must know how the various data sources are linkedamp8221Harvey Kent and Judd Rubin presented an overview of Strata which offers a range of services that shepherd data through the sellcycle workflow from order management trafficking and invoicing amp8220Approximately 25 of total US media spend goes through Strata systemsamp8221 Judd explained amp8220We provide media workflow research analytics and campaign management tools to media agencies who are in our platform all day deciding how what and when to consider inventory offeringsamp8221Itamp8217s gotten more complicated for buyers amp8220There are an overwhelming number of inventory options and itamp8217s not making a buyeramp8217s job any easieramp8221 Rubin continued amp8220Strataamp8217s customers are interested in all sorts of offerings including programmatic TV but if they are not connected to their normal workflow they cannot use them at scaleamp160 Makes sense right If they have to jump through hoops theyamp8217re less likely to buy or buy at scaleamp8221There are two phases of next steps Phase one is working to unify workflows amp8220Right now if an agency interested in buying from two programmatic TV vendors the agency has to accept two different processes and measurementsamp8221 Rubin said amp8220Well there are at least six major programmatic TV vendors so itamp8217s unlikely an agency or DSP will engage with all of them if itamp8217s an operational headache This is the critical role Strata playsamp8221 Phase 2 and beyond Strata says it will concentrate efforts in making it progressively easier to consider and buy newer offerings with dataenabled decision making throughout the workflowAttend the next Secret Society in June by contacting MitchOscargmailcomImage at top courtesy of Corbis The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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The Secret Society’s Challenge to Programmatic TV

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Charlene Weisler

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

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