In the race among advertisers seeking efficient television ratings points amid media inflation, it pays to own a trifecta. For Cadent, that trio is cable, advanced TV and the recent addition of broadcast inventory to its offerings.
“So many advertisers are having a tough time competing in this marketplace,” Jim Tricarico, CRO of Cadent Network, says in an interview with Beet.TV, citing the dynamic of lower TV ratings but high demand for ad inventory. “And what does that mean? Media inflation. Prices are going up.”
This allows networks to be discriminating about the accounts they accept, snagging the highest CPM’s while tiering or capping their lower-priced offerings. “What we try to do is come in and be a solution to that media inflation,” says Tricarico.
Cadent’s core business is obtaining inventory from cable TV providers, among them Bright House, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox, Fios and U-verse—in all, more than 200 MSO’s nationwide. “Whatever the MSO’s don’t sell, we go and get and aggregate across the country into a national footprint,” Tricarico says.
The second leg of Cadent’s trifecta is its advanced TV business, which it bolstered with a recent partnership with TiVo. Using Cadent’s TV targeting tool, media buyers can perform matches against the 2.3 million households that subscribe to TiVo, AdExchanger reports.
Augmenting the TiVo relationship is a micro-targeting relationship with Experian that enables advertisers to identify the best shows and programs on every network, according to Tricarico.
Most recently, Cadent dipped its toes into broadcast. “We haven’t jumped in with both feet but most recently secured new inventory from Metro Traffic and Weather, from CNN and TvB,” Tricarico says.
Cadent’s client base has diversified significantly in the last two or so years. “Now we’re working with all the major agencies and all the premium advertisers,” notes Tricarico. He says the company has added about 140 new advertisers over the last 24 months.
