FORT LAUDERDALE — As multichannel video providers adjust to the daily shifts in the TV, consumption and advertising businesses, many are diving deeper into advertising opportunities. At the recent Beet.TV executive retreat, operators shared their vision on how partnerships look in the years ahead especially as they dovetail with the growing programmatic ad business.
At DISH Network, the focus in the last year has been on launching the programmatic platform and getting Sling up and running. “The Sling product without ads would not be able to be $20 per month so the ad element is front and center in the company. It’s a harbinger of how we become more targeted in general with ads,” says Adam Gaynor Dish Network, VP Media Sales and Analytics, Dish Network during the session.
Meanwhile, AT&T and DirecTV has devoted its attention into integrating two ad platforms and products, says AT&T AdWorks’ ad sales VP Chris Monteferrante. “To the consumer we need to make them seamless. If you go into an AT&T store, you’ll see packaging for DirectTV as your video service and U-verse, where it’s lit up, as your broadband provider,” he says. The next step will be to package those two services with mobile service and, ideally, reach a new level of growth, he says.
Comcast’s attention in the last year on this front has been investing in acquisitions and in plants to leverage its assets. “Our focus on advertising is to leverage the technologies for our internal use,” says Kevin Patrick Smith, SVP Comcast Media 360.
Making the most of the network is essential for Cablevision, says Ben Tatta, Cablevision’s Media Sales President. “We have a singular network and can reassemble data and info across the network and on any connected device and root that back to subscriber data, using real credentials and authenticated viewing.”
The key to navigating the shifting landscape as an operator or as a media company is to zero in on the customer, says Jamie Elden, Media General’s Chief Revenue Officer. “The market is consolidating dramatically, and we are all chasing the consumer and what we think is the next path.”
That’s why partnerships are more common than they were three years ago, he says.
This video was produced at the Beet.TV executive retreat presented by Videology with Adobe, AT&T AdWorks and Nielsen. You can find more videos from the Beet Retreat on this page.
