LONDON – Discovery is preparing to launch a new way for ad buyers to measure audiences for all its content, even when it starts with views through third-party linear distributors.
The TV company says some of its UK content is shown through Sky and Channel 4.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, Katie Coteman, VP, Advertising & Partnerships, Discovery, says a new initiative will allow it to show a single view of audiences coming from those broadcasters and from its own Discovery+ experience.
Linear and beyond
“We’re going to be working with AudienceProject, we’re going to be working with Permutive as our DMP, and also linking what we’re doing on our owned-and-operated app with what we’re doing with our partners as well,” Coteman says.
“Sky and Channel 4 set our standard linear spot.
“One of the things that we are going to be rolling out in the next couple of months is a product that will actually allow our partnership clients – generally, brands who traditionally would sponsor on linear – where they’re then replicating that sponsorship across our OTT platforms across Discovery+.
“For us, it’s about enabling advertisers to follow those audiences wherever they might be in our ecosystem.”
Advanced UK
In the UK, the advanced TV advertising ecosystem is heating up.
Sky’s AdSmart offering was pioneering in the space, is now being threaded into NBCUniversal’s offering and is also enabling Channel 4 in the UK.
Meanwhile, Channel 4 and ITV have also been growing their own programmatic sales platforms, leveraging the data on millions of registered viewers coming through their cross-platform BVOD apps.
Discovery’s Coteman also says the arrival in the UK of the NBC cross-platform measurement standard CFlight, which is gaining widespread adoption amongst key broadcasters, is important.
Evolving ecology
Discovery launched its own Discovery+ platform only a year ago, with a mixed SVOD/AVOD strategy in the US but SVOD in the UK.
In other news, Discovery and BT have proposed forming a 50/50 sports TV JV that would pool Discovery assets including Eurosport and Olympics with BT Sport’s Premier League, Champion’s League, Premiership Rugby and other sports rights.
The proposal could include Discovery+ app customers getting access to BT Sport programming, and vice versa.
Cross-platform necessity
For Coteman, cross-platform is key.
“You would start with your linear partnership,” she says. “But then you can lay on all those other incremental distribution outlets that you’ve identified as being the best place to watch, to reach a certain consumer, and then be able to say what the overall reach is.
“That is what is so key for the future of advanced advertising – enabling advertisers to know that they’ve hit the right people, at the right time, with the right message, and with maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
“Bombardment is a huge issue for advertising and it’s undermining the trust that consumers have in our industry.”
You are watching “Advanced TV Advertising in the UK: The Next Three Years,” a Beet.TV leadership series presented by Finecast. For more videos, please visit this page.
