MIAMI – Kristin Dolan, most recently COO of Cablevision Systems Corp, which was an early player in addressable television advertising, has a new day job. “It’s probably a bigger day job, but one that’s a little bit more self-directed and is really fun,” Dolan says of her role as CEO & Founder of 605.
As she describes the aspirations of 605, a data and analytics firm with roots in targeted political advertising, Dolan’s enthusiasm for mining insights from set-top boxes and other data sources is palpable. In an interview with Matter More Media CEO & Founder Tracey Scheppach at the recent Beet.TV Retreat 2016, Dolan traces the origins of 605 and explains why she’s “excited on a bunch of levels.”
Having sold Cablevision to French telecom firm Altice earlier in 2016, Dolan and her husband James, who had been CEO of Cablevision, recently announced that their Dolan Family Ventures acquired Analytics Media Group, a pioneer in the use of set-top box data. AMG now stands to gain from the confluence of its own “young and bright” minds and the Dolans’ several decades worth of advertising and media savvy, plus the leadership of 605 Co-Founder Ben Tatta, who was President of Cablevision Media Sales.
“It was such a perfect time for us,” Dolan says of the opportunity to invest in AMG, adding that the firm has “a level of experience that doesn’t really exist in a lot of places today, some IP and just a great team of folks.”
AMG’s credentials include work for Walmart and Uber plus “a really nice stable of clients that we’re going to continue to build on,” says Dolan, adding that 605 also will continue to service political advertisers.
Cablevision got into addressable TV in 2008 and now has more than seven million set-top boxes, with addressable available on more than 100 channels. Along the way, it developed its own tools to measure real-time performance for advertisers. “It was fun,” Dolan says of her 27 years in the business.
Now, she explains, “Our goal is to take set-top box data from a wide variety of sources, couple that with a lot of segmentation work that was already done by AMG and then continue to advance that to the benefit of people in the entertainment and media segment.”
605’s short-term focus will be on helping MVPD’s digest massive amounts of data and working with programmers large and small. “For the small networks that aren’t measured, utilization of set-top box and other data can allow them to have a sense of what their advertising and viewership is worth,” Dolan says.
Asked by Scheppach about addressable TV advertising going forward, Dolan cites a report in ADWEEK based on a study showing that 42% of U.S. households now can be reached via addressable TV ads.
“We firmly believe that relevant advertising, everybody wins. Why watch an ad that’s completely irrelevant to you when you can actually be getting something that might be of use,” Dolan notes.
This interview was conducted at Beet Retreat 2016: The Transformation of Television Advertising, an executive retreat presented by Videology with AT&T AdWorks and the 605. Please find more videos from the event here.
