Comcast Advertising’s AudienceXpress unit said it reached an agreement to work with iSpot and evaluate how iSpot’s syndicated national TV ratings can best be incorporated into the AudienceXpress platform.

The companies said they were looking to bring new data sets to TV ad measurement, enhance performance TV marketing solutions and provide attribution reporting.

“We are excited to be teaming up with iSpot,” said Katy Loria, chief revenue officer of AudienceXpress and FreeWheel, Comcast’s ad-tech company.

“Today’s TV ad landscape is incredibly fragmented, putting consumers in control. So much so that they watch content when, where and how they want it. As a trusted business partner to our clients, it’s our responsibility to make sure their ad dollars work smarter and that the ads they create reach their target audiences,” Loria said, “As such, we’ve partnered with iSpot to help further drive accountability and reliability in this space.”

In addition to evaluating iSpot’s national TV ratings, AudienceXpress will continue to work with DRMetrix and 605, both recent iSpot acquisitions.

“We’re proud to be working with AudienceXpress,” said Stuart Schwartzapfel, executive VP, media partnerships at iSpot.

“AudienceXpress is known for delivering market-leading, cross-screen media solutions globally, and we hope that by working with them, we can help further push the boundaries on new innovations and possibilities in the measurement and currency space,” Schwartzapfel said.

Comcast Advertising’s AudienceXpress unit said it is integrating data from Epsilon to bolster its audience-based convergent television capabilities.

Epsilon’s first-party data will give AudienceXpress more information about transactions and consumer behavior, enabling it to create more precise connected TV audience segments for clients.

“The TV ad marketplace continues to grow, evolve and shift constantly and dynamically, and so we recognized the need to provide a way for advertisers to find and connect with their audiences when, where and how they want to consume media,” said Katy Loria, chief revenue officer of AudienceXpress and FreeWheel, Comcast’s ad tech company. “This new partnership brings together some of the core strengths and assets of two key industry players to deliver a much needed way for advertisers to navigate and thrive in today’s TV ad ecosystem.”

Also Read: Comcast’s AudienceXpress Launches Analytics Tool for Cross-Platform Campaigns

For Epsilon, the arrangement gives its clients access to AudienceXpress’s reach, scale and expertise in CTV to buy, execute and measure campaigns with more accuracy.

“As we began to search for a partner that offered the scale and ability to reach the specific audiences and data insights we needed, we were impressed by AudienceXpress’s vast network of aggregated premium video inventory,” Dennis Self, GM of Data Solutions, Epsilon, said. “Through this mutually beneficial partnership, we are able to move forward with an innovative approach that allows us to quickly scale this important partnership.” 

AudienceXpress, part of Comcast Advertising, said it launched a new analytic tool that provides targeting and measurement capabilities for multi-screen TV campaigns.

The tool enables advertisers to create customized audience segments, generate a media plan to reach them, optimize the campaign in mid-flight and measure campaign performance after it is completed.

“In developing this new solution, we listened to what advertisers are telling us and the result is an  offering that addresses their needs. Heading into the 2023 upfronts, brands are looking for scale, high quality premium inventory and real-time, data-driven insights so that they can improve the user  experience and accurately deliver on business goals. We aimed to solve for all of these needs with this  new solution and look forward to what it can do for the industry,” said AudienceXpress Chief Revenue  Officer Katy Loria.  

AudienceXpress said the new tool’s insights are based on Comcast’s viewership and ad exposure data from 15 million households. Marketers can all integrate their own data to help customize campaigns.

Comcast’s ad tech company, FreeWheel said it is relaunching its cross-platform targeted advertising product as AudienceXpress, with the FreeWheel Media team operating under the AudienceXpress brand.

“Our advertising technology has advanced significantly over the past few years, and the AudienceXpress name perfectly reflects the fit between our solution and the growing need for advertisers to easily reach specific audiences – not just demographics – across all screens,” said Pooja Midha, chief growth officer, Comcast Advertising. “That is exactly what this solution does. With AudienceXpress, advertisers can reach their audiences on premium inventory at scale with white-glove service and an industry-leading delivery rate. In a complicated and fragmented marketplace, AudienceXpress provides direct, easy and scaled access to the premium TV audiences that matter.”

Comcast acquired AudienceXpress when it bought VisibleWorld in 2015. 

Also: FreeWheel Certification Program Aims To Make TV Ad Ecosystem More Efficient

AudienceXpresss can integrate with other major MVPDs, enabling campaigns to reach more than 300 million consumers with access to aggregated Comcast viewership data, the company said. It provides advertisers with reports in near-real-time on campaign performance including incremental reach and attribution.

“AudienceXpress offers advertisers scaled premium TV advertising across screens,” said Brian Wallach, head of revenue, AudienceXpress. “In addition, decisions are guided by high-quality data that helps us plan better, measure more accurately and most importantly, help our clients act on those results. At AudienceXpress, as the name implies, we are continuously and quickly providing updated results on audience delivery and performance, then adjusting as needed to maximize success.” ■

Comcast is in talks to acquire Visible World, a maker of targeted advertising systems and a player in the white-hot programmatic TV sector, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing unnamed sources. 

Comcast and Visible World were not immediately available for comment, but the paper noted that a deal isn’t imminent and the discussions could instead lead to a deeper relationship between the two companies. 

While an acquisition of Visible World would give Comcast direct access to key targeted/addressable advertising technologies aimed primarily at set-top boxes, the company’s AudienceXpress subsidiary is focused on programmatic TV systems that bring digital-like automation to the advertising sales process.

Visible World’s partners include Comcast, Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Suddenlink and Time Warner Cable, among others. Cox Media and Suddenlink are among the known customers of its AudienceXpress subsidiary. 

Comcast Ventures is also one of the investors in privately held Visible World.

Comcast has already signaled its interest in owning Web-style advertising companies and technologies. Last year, the MSO acquired online advertising specialist FreeWheel, which just issued a report showing that TV Everywhere advertising jumped significantly in the fourth quarter of 2014. 

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