MIAMI — One of its main brands may be History but, when it comes to the future, A+E Networks knows it doesn’t have all the skills in-house to make its ad inventory more targetable.
That is why A+E recently partnered with 605, the newly-formed company helping MVPDs optimize their ad spaces using data and technology.
In this panel discussion at Beet Retreat 605 CEO Kristin Dolan and A+E ad sales president Mel Berning explain the deal.
“We took viewership data for six months across 40 million households, and we combined that with another database that had about 350 different, unique attributes around people – demographic information, lifestyle information, and sales data,” Dolan says.
“Then we indexed those against 61 other ad-supported networks to see what was unique and different amongst the viewership of the A+E Networks. Then Mel took that information and kind of ran with it.”
605 aims to help programmers evaluate potential target audiences for a new show based on past viewing habits and access real-time measurements to optimize promotions and scheduling for current programming.
“At A+E, we think of ourselves as a content producer,” Berning explains. “We are not really thinking that we are that good at understanding data, at processing data, and at teasing out the stories that can really drive our business forward. We rely on 605 to really give us the base for that.”
The pair say they found that A+E viewers are more receptive to advertising than those who watch the other 61 indexed networks.
But Berning isn’t dwelling on the data.
“I think everyone is totally preoccupied with data at this point in time,” he adds. “We are starting to take a step back and say, ‘Okay, that’s not the end goal’. We’re still going to try to use that data, but I think we’re starting to question a lot whether we are the best party to really gather that data and perform all the data hygiene that needs to be done to maintain that database.”
This video was produced at the Beet Retreat Miami, 2017 presented by Videology along with Alphonso and 605. For more videos from the event, please visit this page.
