Audio Video News

Are you ready for a new era of targeted advertising direct to your smart TV?

Ready or not, Vizio has partnered with Disney, CBS, NBC Universal, and other major media/advertising companies to form an industry consortium dedicated to developing standards for addressable advertising on internet-connected smart TVs.

The goal is to demonstrate a working product in the spring with full deployment targeted for early 2020.

Dubbed “Project OAR” for Open Addressable Ready, the group will “open up a direct dynamic ad-management pathway between content owners and TV devices” and define technical standards that will enable TV programmers and platforms to deliver “more relevant advertising experiences within linear and on-demand formats on smart TVs.” In other words, deliver advertising that TV audiences are more likely to watch and enjoy.

Project OAR will provide programmers and distributors of TV advertising the technical means to “better monetize every TV impression through segment-based audience targets and addressable insertion,” according to a press release issued by the consortium.

The OAR technology will be developed by Inscape, the TV ACR data company owned by Vizio, with oversight from a committee comprising representatives from Disney’s Media Networks (ABC, ESPN and Freeform), Comcast’s FreeWheel and NBCUniversal, Discovery, CBS, Xandr, Turner, Hearst Television, and AMC Networks.

The advertising protocol will be open so any internet-connected TV maker and connected-device company can leverage it and Vizio has pledged that once finalized, it will be deployed to the public on an opt-in basis.

“The standard will define the baseline for ad delivery, impression verification and privacy compliance, but networks will have plenty of room to create unique and enriched advertising experiences,” said Jodie McAfee, SVP at Inscape. “We are making this flexible enough to enable interactivity and other bells and whistles that have yet to be imagined.”

“TV programmers reach a massive and passionate audience, but have lacked the precision targeting of digital,” said Mike Dean, Senior Vice President, Advanced Advertising and Automation at CBS. “Through OAR, CBS will combine relevance with our reach to deliver a better experience to our viewers and better ROI for our advertisers.”

With OAR, media companies say they will be able to deliver ads that are relevant to households and, in doing so, improve the TV viewing experience. “We all recognize the most important goal of this initiative is to drastically enhance the TV experience for people at home,” said Vizio CEO William Wang.

“It’s important for us to come together as an industry and create connective experiences that matter to fans, and that includes how we use data to inform and broaden spaces like addressable TV,” said Jesse Redniss, EVP of Data Strategy, WarnerMedia and GM of the WarnerMedia Innovation Lab.

“Project OAR aligns well with FreeWheel’s objective of supporting the industry to deliver scalable, addressable advertising solutions that will help make television an even more valuable platform for brand marketers,” said Dave Clark, General Manager of FreeWheel, a Comcast company.

For more information, visit projectoar.org.