Advertisers got a preview today of OpenAP, a new cross-audience platform for selling targeted TV advertising, developed in a joint initiative by Fox, Turner and Viacom.
The three companies held a launch event in New York to share details on OpenAP, a consortium to develop a clearinghouse for audience segments, and revealed that Nielsen plans to participate in the initiative. OpenAP will be run by neutral third-party auditor Accenture, Deadline reported, and is aimed at using audience targeting and independent measurement to help adoption catch up to demand for targeted ads.
“This is a historical day for all of us,” Turner’s Donna Speciale told a gathering of advertisers in New York, according to Deadline. “You’ve been asking us to come together…We heard you.”
Related: Fox, Turner, Viacom team for cross-audience TV ad targeting
This comes at a controversial time for broadcasters, when advertisers have complained that some digital platform algorithms have attached their ads to undesirable “related” content. The OpenAP platform will integrate with advertiser and agency planning systems. The currently available content reaches 93% of all television audiences today, and the companies are hoping to expand that number if additional publishers join OpenAP.
“We support the consortium’s ambitions to create a clearinghouse for audience-based buying on linear television,” said Lynda Clarizio, Nielsen president of U.S. media, in a statement. “Nielsen’s audience segments built on our household, person level and buyergraphic ratings data are the most widely used for National audience based buying across linear television today. We are confident that they will play the same role in OpenAP. We look forward to working with the participating networks and advertisers on the broader success of this initiative.”
Once launched within OpenAP, Nielsen’s data on audience segments and the National TV household, person level and buyergraphic television ratings will be critical components to the success of OpenAP.
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Other media companies are combining forces to simplify the data-driven ad sales process, while others are forging new paths in never-before-seen territories. Last month, large broadcast group Nexstar Media announced it was joining the Local Media Consortium. Nexstar’s LMC membership provides it with access to the consortium’s partners including Google, Yahoo and Monster, which provide technology and content solutions to the LMC's members.