Dish Media, Blockgraph – which is owned by Comcast/NBCUniversal, Charter and ViacomCBS – and more have formed the TV Data Initiative to address industry issues and opportunities.
Additional founding members TransUnion, MadHive, VideoAmp, Eyeota and TVSquared plan to use this new industry program to help advertisers, agencies, MVPDs, programmers and other distributors “try and untangle the massive mess of TV data,” according to TV[R]EV Co-Founder Alan Wolk.
Consumers are increasingly shifting toward connected TV viewing and that creates massive data sets that can used for targeted advertising and other innovations.
“Dish Media is committed to an open approach within the advanced advertising industry, and that includes leveraging data for transparency and accountability,” said Kevin Arrix, senior vice president of Dish Media, in a statement. “As data-driven TV continues to grow, it’s increasingly important for us to find solutions that align data and identity with marketers' efforts for improved efficiency and measurability, without jeopardizing customer information.”
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Over the next six months, the founding members said they will work together to assess the current state of data in the advanced TV ecosystem, explore the main challenges and opportunities, and identify the priorities for a data-based TV industry. That includes developing a landscape overview, analyzing the challenges and barriers currently facing different categories of industry participants, and assessing the potential for new collective arrangements to support data sharing, matching and quality.
“Creating uniformity across the converged TV landscape is key to both unlocking the power of TV advertising and ensuring its scalable future,” said Jo Kinsella, president at TVSquared, in a statement. “Through industry-wide collaboration, we can create a TV ecosystem where all sides of the trade win – from advertisers and media owners, to data providers and publishers. We are excited to be part of an initiative dedicated to making this happen.”
The new initiative is being directed by three industry executives: TV[R]EV’s Wolk along with Jon Watts, executive director and co-founder of The Project X Institute, and Jonathan Steuer, VideoAmp’s executive vice president of TV strategy and currency at VideoAmp, all of whom will be advising the initiative in an independent capacity.