Andy Plesser

WorldNow, a New York-based online video platform provider for some 400 U.S. local television stations, has announced the formation of a consortium to sell national advertising. At the recent NAB Show in Las Vegas, we spoke with Lou Schwartz, Chief Strategy Officer, about the growing IP-delivered opportunities for TV stations and how the company is […]

Orlando based-Online video platform Stream Monkey is expanding by offering services to media companies, non-profits and enterprises.  One of its key value propositions is its deep analytics around viewers, says Jason Fuhlbruck, in this interview with Beet.TV.   The analytics suite is powered by Akamai, he explains. Stream Monkey was was tapped as the platform […]

Mobile video advertising is pricing at half of what it should be says Greg Stuart, CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association, in this interview with Beet.TV.  He cites data from a just completed two year, $2 million research study undertaken by the MMA with several big brands.   Unlike other forms of digital video, supply outpaces […]

Mixpo, the Seattle-based company that creates custom, interactive elements for pre-roll ads for big brands and publishers, sees much bigger opportunities for interactivity in video ads that appear as banners, says Charlie Tillinghast, former President & CEO of MSNBC.com, who became CEO of Mixpo earlier this year. While the inventory for pre-roll is limited, the […]

Responding to a dramatic increase in video consumption on connected TV’s, comScore is readying a measurement tool to tabulate views on the devices and will roll it out this year in the U.S., says Serge Matta, CEO in this video interview with Beet.TV.   He says that comScore is already measuring OTT consumption for publishers including […]

In a  keynote address to some 500 leaders of the adtech industry gathered in New York by the investment bank boutique LUMA partners, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong shared an expansive  view on the sale of AOL to Verizon and the future of AOL.   He spoke about the future of an open, interoperarable tech stack where buyers […]

It’s not porn, it’s not file sharing, yet many media agencies equate news with these unsavory categories – and they are keeping their distance and limiting ad spend. The threat to news is not the lack of journalists, it’s the way news is seen by advertisers, primarily by the agencies who evaluate the medium, declares Jon Steinberg,  CEO […]

At the upcoming Cannes Lions Festival in France next month, a vast numbers adtech companies will be vying for attention but there will be an inevitable winnowing.   Consolidation will continues with the growth of larger, open platform technology companies.  “There will be roadkill in the Lumascape,” says David Bell, Chairman Emeritus of the Interpublic […]

Baidu, China’s largest search engine, has entered into a strategic investment with content recommendation company Taboola, the companies announced today.   Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The deal gives Taboola a giant foothold in the Chinese market which does not widely use content recommendation services like Taboola or Outbrain.   The implementation will include […]

Brightcove, the big online video platform company, has expanded its advertising tools including dynamic ad insertion and ad insertion for live programming, explains Albert Lai, CTO, Media.  We spoke with him last month at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Brightcove calls its suite of advertising tools Once. For more coverage of NAB 2015, please […]

The recent NAB Show in Las Vegas marked a tectonic shift in the scope and value of TV advertising.   Finally, the industry has embraced the value of big audiences, across multiple screens. As part of this shift, the value of traditional audience demographics have become less important as new attribution models around IP delivered […]

AdMore, a large automated TV buying platform, is expanding its efforts with major DSP’s including Turn, TubeMogul and the Rubicon Project, explains Brendan Condon in this interview with Beet.TV.  He also talks about the new alliance with Varick Media. Condon explains how these DSP and trading desks are accessing TV inventory to extend campaign reach. […]

The recently concluded Digital Content NewFronts stood out for both an array of quality, sophisticated programming and for the new opportunity to buy audiences programmatically, says Julian Zilberbrand,EVP Activation Standards, Insights and Technology for Zenith OptiMedia, in this interview with Beet.TV

As CEO’s of leading adtech companies along with institutional and strategic investors gather for  LUMA Partners’ annual one-day conference in Manhattan next week, there will surely be talk on and off the stage about the the acquisition of AOL by Verizon.   Leading off the conference will be a keynote address by AOL CEO and Chairman Tim […]

The media landscape is changing quickly, as evidenced by today’s announcement of Verizon’s plans to purchase AOL Inc.   For a look at where the media industry might be heading in the next 5 to ten  years, we sat down with AOL CEO and Chairman Tim Armstrong  earlier this year.  With today’s news, we are republishing […]

Native advertising has become a central focus for revenue at The New York Times, according Chief Revenue Officer Meredith Levien in this profile article in Digiday. And, video has become an integral part of the solution says Sebastian Tomich, SVP for Advertising and Innovation and head of the publisher’s native advertising unit, in this interview with […]

For AOL, the NewFront was more than a slate of new original video shows, it was an integrated offering of both media and technology with its programmatic platform, explains Jim Norton, Global Head, Media Sales at AOL in this inteview at the AOL NewFront. Norton says that while automation is bringing efficiencies to the marketplace, quality content is […]

As part of its new slate of web originals unveiled at its NewFront, AOL is reading three documentary series for its marquis brands Engadget, TechCrunch and Huffington Post.  For explanation of the series’ content and format, we interviewed Nate Hayden, VP for Originals and Branded Content. Hayden also talks about the changing form factor for […]

Data, analytics and programmatic advertising have been part of the conversation at Cannes Lions for the past couple of years. The dialogue has taken place at meeting suites, beach cabanas and at networking events.  This year, for the first time, Cannes will host the Lions Innovation Festival, a two-day (6.25-26) program held in the Grand […]

BBG Ventures, a New York-based, early stage  venture capital firm, backed with $10 million from AOL,  that invests in women-lead tech start-ups, has made investments in 12 start-ups.  Headed by media industry luminary Susan Lyne, BBG makes seed investments of generally less that $250,000.  The fund was launched in September. We spoke with Lyne about the fund.  She […]