Blockgraph said that its identity and data collaboration platform has been adopted by tvbeat, a provider of campaign planning technology for media companies.

The deal will enable advertising to plan audience-based linear TV campaigns programmatically, the companies said.

“Our partnership with tvbeat is a testament to our commitment to innovative, data-driven TV advertising and privacy-centric data collaboration,” said Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph. “Leveraging our two technologies, MVPDs and programmers can adhere to their privacy commitments while also maintaining greater control over their data, fueling more innovation in linear TV, the longstanding stalwart of premium video.”

Also Read: Madhive Teams With Blockgraph To Use First-Party Data for TV Campaigns

The agreement allows MVPDs and programmers to benefit from tvbeat’s advanced advertising capabilities while also applying data security and privacy protections. Taking  advantage of record-level reporting and matching, users can plan, execute, and measure their audience-based programmatic linear TV campaigns, improving results and driving more value from their inventory.

“Blockgraph has established an important network effect across leading MVPDs and programmers, as well as their advertising ecosystem partners,” said Robert Farazin, co-founder and CEO of tvbeat. “We are confident that this new partnership will benefit the market by delivering time- and cost-efficient audience matching and, in turn, power better campaign measurement and attribution for linear TV.”

Blockgraph is owned by Charter Communications, Comcast NBCUniversal and Paramount. 

tvScientific said it is working with Blockgraph so that its direct-to-consumer clients can safely put their first-party data assets to work.

Clients can use their information to target audiences using tvScientfific’s connected TV platform based on consumers’ search, purchase and retail history to optimize campaigns.

“This new partnership brings together our privacy-enhanced, deterministic household identity solution with tvScientific’s sophisticated demand-side platform,” Blockgraph CEO Jason Manningham said. “This collaboration will be particularly valuable to tvScientific’s customers, as they will now be able to apply their first-party data assets more effectively and increase the overall ROI for their advertising campaigns.”

DTC brands have a lot of data on customers and potential customers. As they shift their marketing dollars from digital and social media to CTV, unlocking that data is a key to maintaining growth.

One of the first brands to work with Blockgraph and tvScientific was Lull, a direct-to-consumer mattress brand.

"Using tvScientific’s platform to leverage our first-party data has allowed us to unlock an additional channel to retarget our existing leads and customers,” said Sharone Almog, VP of marketing and e-commerce at Lull. “Data drives all of our decisions at Lull, so being able to target unique audiences who we know are interested in our brand has helped us boost campaign performance."

Blockgraph and tvScientific will enable the use of first-party data to buy programmatically.

“Combining programmatic advertising with premium video is a complex challenge, and it’s becoming more complex with the expanding landscape of services and providers,” David Koye, tvScientific co-founder and chief product officer, said. “Our new partnership with Blockgraph gives our customers the tools they need to confidently and consistently optimize performance even as campaigns become more complicated. Blockgraph’s privacy-focused identity solution gives our customers the security they need to identify and target new audiences and measure their success.”

Madhive said it is working with Blockgraph to enable first-party data to be used by buyers and sellers to target video campaigns while keeping a focus on privacy.

Madhive’s demand-side platform enables planning, targeting, activation and measurement of programmatic campaigns for local advertisers.

“As the connected TV advertising landscape continues to grow, so does the need for solutions that can better harness the power of first-party data while protecting consumer privacy,” said Spencer Potts, CEO of Madhive. 

“Our partnership with Blockgraph is a significant step towards meeting this need. By combining Madhive’s full-stack programmatic platform with Blockgraph’s privacy-enhancing identity solution, we are unlocking new possibilities for media companies to monetize their inventory and for advertisers to reach new audiences, all while maintaining the highest standards of security.”

Blockgraph, owned by Charter Communications, Comcast NBCUniversal and Paramount, provides identity resolution and its secure platform enables data owners to deploy their aggregated and de-identified data quickly, safely, and accurately, driving improved campaign performance.

“This partnership will help directly activate first-party data using scaled, deterministic household identity in combination with Madhive’s leading programmatic platform,” said Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph. “Madhive customers will be able to take better advantage of their first-party data and deploy it with greater speed, accuracy, and confidence, ensuring improved outcomes for marketers of all sizes.”

Ampersand and Blockgraph have gotten together to make it easier for media buyers at Interpublic Group agencies to use data from IPG’s Acxiom unit to plan and buy audience driven multiscreen TV campaigns.

The agreement lets advertisers securely match their own data with the viewing data Ampersand has in its And platform about the 80 million households it reaches — 52 million of which are addressable.

Data from Ampersand and Acxiom will be available within a single, always-on interface, with consumers’ privacy preserved.

“This is a game changer,” Ampersand senior VP, data and analytics Justin Rosen told Broadcasting+Cable.

“This integration more directly, more seamlessly connects that Acxiom and IPG first- and third-party dataset directly with Ampersand’s distribution partners,” Rosen said. “It creates the speed of activation, really strong match rates and the ability to take these audiences and distribute them for cross-platform addressable TV.”

Ampersand is owned by cable companies Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications and sells their ad inventory to national and regional advertisers.

The combination will also lower costs as the frequency and scale of campaigns increase, said Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph, the technology company owned by Charter Communications, Comcast NBCUniversal and Paramount that enables targeting and measurement with its Identity Operating System.

“As activations increase, and as measurement increases, you start seeing a lot of economies of scale,” Manningham said. “Our industry is evolving and trying new ways of working together. These huge partnerships bring together the scale for the marketplace and the cost savings will be meaningful for the industry.” ▪️

Initially, IPG agencies will be the first to have direct access to the Acxiom data though the arrangement with Ampersand and Blockgraph, but it will not be exclusive, said Conor Burgess, VP of business development at Acxiom.

“It’s really about solving the unique problem we have with identity supply chains and operational challenges. So the more seamless and frictionless you can make it is going to advantage anyone involved in the process,” Burgess said. “With data, if it’s scalable and match counts are accurate and it’s the audience you want to reach, you’ll use it.”

The demand for better ways of sharing data are increasing.

“I think the macro trends are clear. Brands have their own data. Whether that originates as first-party or third-part, they have their own data they want to use for planning data-driven linear, CTV linear addressable or VOD addressable campaigns,” Manningham said. “Being able to do that quickly with all of the controls that all of the data owner need is really essential.” ■

Blockgraph, the ad tech company owned by Comcast, Charter Communications and Paramount, said veteran advertising exec David Kline has been named chairman.

Kline, who will continue to serve as executive VP at charter and president of its Spectrum Reach ad sales unit, succeeds Dave Clark, who stepped down as GM of Comcast’s FreeWheel unit in February.

Blockgraph was started in 2017 by Comcast, and making Kline chairman signals that it intends to serve the entire industry, with its technology, designed to safely enable data-driven TV advertising.

“Blockgraph demonstrates what’s possible when innovators in our industry develop forward-thinking collaborative technologies,” said Kline. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to play a leading role in Blockgraph’s important work and continued growth. In the coming year, we will look to gain even more momentum to safely enable industry measurement, addressability, and programmatic tools across a fully privacy-compliant household identity platform.”

Clark’s successor at FreeWheel, Mark McKee has been added to Blockgraph’s board.

“I’m excited to be joining industry leaders on the board of Blockgraph. This is a pivotal moment for the industry and Blockgraph’s technology platform and approach to identity and collaboration are well poised to help the marketplace solve for the fragmentation of TV audiences in the connected home,” said McKee. “I’m looking forward to teaming up with Jason and the Blockgraph team to accelerate the adoption of Blockgraph’s industry-leading, privacy-first, identity operating system across all stakeholder groups in the premium video and connected TV ecosystem."

“These changes to the composition of our board of directors solidify Blockgraph’s standing as a comprehensive, neutral solution for our industry as a whole,” said Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph. “Both David and Mark have extensive track records of leadership at the intersection of video advertising and technology, and I am confident that their guidance will help further establish Blockgraph as the essential solution for data-driven TV advertising.”

In 2018, Charter and ViacomCBS–now Paramount– joined Comcast in supporting FreeWheel’s Blockgraph initiative. Comcast, Charter and ViacomCBS turned Blockgraph into a joint venture in 2018. ■

Measurement company iSpot.tv said it is working with Blockgraph in order to get access to additional data sources to enhance its impression and attribution analysis across TV platforms.

iSpot will use Blockgraph’s Identity Operating System to tap into Blockgraph’s identity layer. With additional insights about viewers, iSpot will be able to provide better analytics about the impression delivery and the impact of advertising campaigns. The new arrangement will also help measure addressable advertising and other advanced advertising techniques. 

The move comes as the TV industry looks for new ways to measure the different ways consumers are viewing content and interacting with commercials.

“Blockgraph’s approach to audience data doesn’t just supplement iSpot’s attribution and impression reporting, it will help brands and media companies better understand and utilize addressable TV ad inventory in the context of their holistic TV campaigns,” said Robert Bareuther, senior VP of business development, iSpot.

Also: Cover Ups? Acquisition of DRMetrix Means iSpot.tv Measures Them Too

Blockgraph, owned by Charter Communications, Comcast and ViacomCBS, provides a secure technology enabling the secure and privacy-protected sharing of data.  

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with iSpot to help marketers better incorporate and manage their addressable TV campaigns side by side with their campaigns across other TV platforms,” said Aleck Schleider, chief revenue officer, Blockgraph. “Our direct-to-household connectivity, coupled with our interoperable IDoS, ensures more accurate and flexible analysis that always puts privacy first.”■

TVSquared and Blockgraph are working with Spectrum Reach, Charter Communications’s advertising business, to provide Spectrum Reach clients with multi-screen attribution that shows how TV ad exposure contributed to consumer activity and sales.

TVSquared’s ADvantage platform measures the effectiveness of linear, addressable and connected TV. 

Blockgraph’s Identity Operating System enables privacy-compliant data collection for TV. The system Blockgraph and TVSquared have devised gives advertisers the measurement they want while retaining control of their data, which is securely hosted within their own environment without using a third-party matching partner.

TVSquared and Blockgraph began working together on omni-channel TV measurement and attribution last September.

Also Read: Dish, Blockgraph Lead Initiative To Harness Data for TV Ads

“The ability to combine ad exposure data with consumer outcomes – deterministically and at scale – is an advancement for the TV industry,” said Jo Kinsella, president, TVSquared. “We are excited to be part of this innovation by providing the most precise TV measurement, and we share in the commitment to building brands and connecting them with audiences across all screens and platforms.”

Also Read: CTV Ad Spending Up 84% in 1st Quarter: TVSquared

Blockgraph is owned by Charter, Comcast NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS. Data owners and brands employ Blockgraph’s IDoS when collaborating to achieve greater simplicity, speed, and transparency in order to confidently reach, target, and measure audiences.

“Accelerating accurate measurement solutions across the convergent TV landscape is essential to the vitality of the industry,” said Jason Manningham, CEO, Blockgraph. “We are thrilled to enable Spectrum Reach and TVSquared to provide deterministic attribution solutions that move the industry forward through our data collaboration platform that enables real-time insights and facilitates the highest levels of data quality, controls, and commitments to user privacy.”

Ad tech company Blockgraph said it named Scott Collins as executive VP, client partnerships & sales strategy, a new post.

Collins most recently was president of ad sales at AMC Networks. Before that he was VP of cable entertainment ad sales at NBCUniversal. 

At Blockgraph, owned by Charter Communications, Comcast and ViacomCBS, Collins will develop a long-term strategy for advanced TV advertising and manage client and agency partnerships. He reports to Aleck Schleider, chief revenue officer at Blockgraph.

“As linear and digital TV continue to converge, developing data-driven advertising solutions that meet the privacy needs of today’s consumers while enabling advertisers to reach target audiences at scale will require both leading technology and proven integrity,” said Schleider. “Scott has demonstrated the ability to integrate future-forward advertising technologies to drive performance for leading media brands. His knowledge, experience and trusted relationships will prove invaluable as Blockgraph works to shape the next generation of data-driven audience solutions for convergent TV.”

Blockgraph’s technologies is built on its Identity Operating System (IDoS), which was design to enable privacy-compliant, audience based advertising solutions for convergent TV. 

“I am thrilled to be joining Blockgraph at a time of great momentum and view this as the logical next step in my career,” said Collins. “I am a big believer in the power of television and the importance of precise advertising solutions. Blockgraph represents the future of TV, and I am excited to get started in developing new partnerships to build that future.”

Blockgraph said it will work with The Trade Desk to facilitate first-party audience targeting using the Unified ID 2.0 systems across the convergent TV landscape.

“We are committed to building solutions with like-minded partners that share our principles and facilitate audience-based advertising in ways that are future-forward and privacy-focused,” said Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph, owned by Charter Communications, Comcast NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS. “The unique combination of Unified ID 2.0 and Blockgraph will allow advertisers to quickly and seamlessly execute campaigns with 100% data control and protection cohesively across all digital and TV platforms.”

The combination of Blockgraph’s IDoS in with Unified ID 2.0 aims to provide transparency to users, in addition to offering a common currency to reach and measure audiences across publishers, platforms, and devices, all at scale, the companies said.

“Advertisers are looking to deliver a relevant, high-quality advertising experience in a privacy-conscious way that preserves the value exchange of the internet,” said Michelle Hulst, chief operating officer, The Trade Desk. “As we look to further integrate Unified ID 2.0 into the TV ecosystem with partners like Blockgraph, Charter, Comcast and ViacomCBS, we’re making this a reality for advertisers with an open-source, interoperable identity solution that puts the consumer in the driver’s seat. In doing so, we’ll help brands reach audiences at scale and help enable this new golden age of TV.”

The ad sales arms of Comcast and Charters lined up behind the combination.

“With Blockgraph’s IDoS in combination with Unified ID 2.0, we can further facilitate aggregated and de-identified first party data-based audience solutions on our cross-platform TV inventory in a way that is 100% privacy compliant,” said Rob Kilppel, senior VP, advanced advertising products and strategy of Charter’s Spectrum Reach unit.

“We look forward to innovating with partners like Blockgraph and The Trade Desk to ensure that marketers can execute their campaigns using advanced, data-driven approaches in a way that solves for the necessary consumer privacy and publisher data protections so as to future proof both our business and the industry,” added James Rooke, general manager of Comcast’s Effectv.

Companies in the advanced advertising business have formed the TV Data Initiative, a group that will look to accelerate the use of data in the television industry.

The group includes Dish Media, Blockgraph, MadHive, VideoAmp, Eyeota and TVSquared and plans to spend the next six months assessing the state of data in the advanced TV ecosystem and identify challenges and opportunities.

“We are thrilled to be participating in this critical effort to drive the TV data ecosystem forward. The next era of TV must be one defined by industry collaboration and connectivity,” said Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph, a joint venture of Comcast, Charter Communications and ViacomCBS. “We need to work together to develop solutions that solve for the industry’s increasing complexity and fragmentation while at the same time addressing advertisers’ demand for data-driven capabilities in a way that always puts privacy first.”

“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 VP of Dish Media. “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.”

The initiative is being directed by Jon Watts, executive director and co-founder of The Project X Institute, and Alan Wolk, co-founder of TV[R]ev, with Jonathan Steuer, VideoAmp’s executive VP of TV strategy & currency, advising the initiative in an independent capacity.

The group intends to find clear definitions and frameworks for the industry, as well as an assessment of the potential for new collective approaches 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. “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.”

"MadHive has always been passionate about the power of collaboration and open source standards to solve many of our industry's toughest problems," said Adam Helfgott. CEO of MadHive. "We are excited to contribute to this innovative initiative."

With a new presidential administration and renewed bipartisan talk of significant investment in infrastructure as a means of kickstarting the economy post pandemic, it looks as though 2021 may be the year when the U.S. gets serious about addressing its aging infrastructure. The need to invest in critical infrastructure like roads and bridges is glaring. Without addressing cracks in the pavement and rusted beams, the country’s ability to function can be compromised.

Less visibly, television advertising has been experiencing the consequences of a similarly aging infrastructure. While digital advertisers have benefited from advanced targeting and measurement, TV advertisers have largely been left to use the same tools that have been in place for decades. However, changing consumption behaviors and privacy concerns are forcing us to rethink our models of connection and they provide us with the perfect opportunity to evolve the entire industry. 

We are at a tremendous crossroads in our industry, and to really move forward and better serve brands and put their increasing budgets for video content to best use, we need to completely rethink the infrastructure for TV advertising itself. 

When we talk about infrastructure in this context, we’re not just referring to the mechanics of advertising: getting ads to where they need to be and having the right software in place to collect data. We’re also talking about the infrastructure that facilitates the fundamental marriage between TV and data. That’s what will really help the medium move forward--beyond traditional age and demographic targeting and panel-based measurement. 

Just like lawmakers in Washington, the ad industry can’t afford to wait.

Inflection Drives Evolution

As a result of the quickly changing consumption and privacy environment, media companies have been working to retrofit established business models to this new reality. Unfortunately, the bridge between digital and TV is not an easy one to cross.

These companies have found that the models for linear TV are a challenging fit for on-demand media, and the access to data and attribution that marketers have come to appreciate from digital advertising is not yet easily achievable through the new TV platforms.

While it would seem like the solution is simple—leveraging first-party data (from device manufacturers and content distributors) and applying digital marketing tools to streaming content—the real world isn’t so cut and dry. Rather than developing effective tools from the ground up for a brand new medium (as was the case with the advent of performance-driven digital advertising), the TV industry is still working to evolve and find the right solutions for today’s reality—this, for a medium that is approaching its 100th birthday. 

The tenets of speed, efficiency, and cost are table stakes now. Let’s build the right on-ramp for data that focuses on quality, connectivity, and privacy.

Building a New “Highway” System

The industry can’t just attempt to copy what worked for the digital giants. Flexibility - in utilizing new systems, while leveraging existing legacy investments - is critical to the success of a new infrastructure. A data-driven future must meld the best of traditional TV (safety and reach) with the best of digital advertising (targeting and measurement) while preserving consumer privacy at the core.

This isn’t just limited to the current media darling, CTV, either: in spite of the cord-cutting trend, many consumers still bounce from linear TV to CTV to DVR to mobile streaming. What’s more, the growth of walled gardens introduces a new range of systems and devices that must be factored into brands’ strategies. 

Addressing all of this is a complicated task, but it isn’t insurmountable. A logical approach would be a unified platform that brings all of the disparate TV companies, devices and systems together holistically. But getting all these different groups to work together in concert isn’t very realistic so we need to think about the right connective tissue that allows them to come and go as they please. 

This begets the advent of a simple connective layer—a data highway of sorts—designed to facilitate and ease the flow of data and information across platforms and from one party to another. All of this can also be done while preserving first-party data control, built first and foremost with a commitment to privacy. The data and insights can, in turn, be used in a manner that is consistent with each companies’ privacy, confidentiality, and security policies. 

With this connective layer, the viable future of data-driven, advanced advertising is finally visible.

But for this to happen, like our nation, we need to think “industry first,” understand where we came from, learn from our challenges, and build a new infrastructure that serves as the backbone of this new economy. When we do that, this rising tide will lift all of our boats.

Blockgraph is a privacy-first infrastructure for TV data that ensures that the highest levels of control, quality and security for data owners. It is owned by three of the largest media and video distribution companies in the world—Comcast NBCUniversal, Charter Communications, Inc. and ViacomCBS Inc.

Blockgraph said it plans to work with TransUnion to allow marketers and media companies to use data about consumer identities and behaviors for addressable advertising in a way that protects consumer privacy.

Blockgraph is owned by Comcast NBCUniversal, Charter Communications and ViacomCBS and provides the infrastructure to securely handle data at scale. 

“TransUnion and Blockgraph will enable the TV industry to take a big leap forward towards its convergent future,” said Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph. “By bringing connectivity, efficiency, and transparency to an industry challenged by fragmentation and lack of trust, we are taking addressability and measurement to the next level at a critical inflection point for the TV industry.”

Also Read: NBCU Adds Charter to Addressable Ad Footprint

TransUnion, a credit reporting agency, has moved into the business of providing data on consumers for advertising applications.

“Combining Blockgraph’s privacy-first data infrastructure with TransUnion’s identity solutions means we will be able to deliver on the promise of cross-platform addressability in the rapidly evolving convergent TV ecosystem,” said John Halley, COO, advertising revenue and executive VP, advanced marketing solutions at ViacomCBS. “This new level of implementing data confidentiality controls, combined with cross channel identity resolution, targeting, and measurement is a win for consumers, our advertisers and for the TV industry at large.”

TV measurement and attribution firm TVSquared and Blockgraph, which securely connects data providers and users, said they are working together to provide omni-channel TV measurement and attribution capabilities.

Since the onset of COVID-19, it's been more important than ever for marketers to be able to figure out how effective their advertising spending is. Historically, the process of securely combining data sets about viewership with outcomes information has been filled with friction and expense.

Working together, TVSquared and Blockgraph said they aim to make the process simpler and more manageable without sacrificing control over the data and protecting privacy and security.

Jo Kinsella, president of TVSquared said the combination had the potential to be industry changing because it allows for cross-platform measurement of audiences and attribution outcomes at scale.

“By combining the best-in-class measurement and attribution platform that TVSquared has built with the best-in-class next-generation identity platform that we’ve built unlocks a tremendous amount of value for brands that are looking to measure their audience across platforms,” added Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph.

Blockgraph was formed in May as an independent entity owned by Comcast, Charter and ViacomCBS. Its technology, incubated within Comcast’s Freewheel unit, lets its clients safely aggregate and share anonymized data.

Among the data available to TVSquared clients is viewing data from Blockgraph’s corporate owners.

“It stands to reason that our co-owners, and some of the TVSquared client base, are really excited about this offering and this solution,” Manningham said. “We envision and intend for them to be the first adopters of this capability set we’re bringing to the market.”

Kinsella said that TVSquared would be offering these capabilities to clients on a self service platform with 24-7 access to performance data.

“You’re not waiting for a study. This isn’t a report. It’s a dashboard that you log into where you can see what was delivered from an impression standpoint and then how it performed, did somebody take an action,” she said. “You can tie that down to the household, or you can tie that down to an individual. This really is understanding the end-to-end customer journey.”

The cost of the service will depend on how many data sets a client want to match, how much the client is spending on media and some other factors. “It’s reassuringly expensive,” Kinsella said, adding that the value created is significantly greater than the cost.

“We’re really about driving value and not adding a technology tax to the ecosystem, Manningham added. “This is about collaborating as an industry to get adoption of this simplified model for cross-platform measurement and audiences and answering the question, ‘Did my TV work?'”

That’s been the holy grail in the TV business.

“What Blockgraph and TVSquared are saying is we can do this and we can bring that to everyone," Kinsella said. “This is about making sure that the industry can adopt this new approach to authenticated audience and measurement so that all sides of the trade win. This is helping to create a marketplace for digitizing television.”

Addressable advertising veteran Aleck Schleider has joined Blockgraph as its first chief revenue officer.

Blockgraph was recently spun out as a standalone company owned by Comcast, Charter Communications and ViacomCBS that will focus on safely and securely handling the data needed for targeted advertising.

Schleider, who previously had been senior VP of client and data strategy at Amobee, will be responsible for adding clients to the Blockgraph platform and will guide that platform’s monetization strategy and commercial direction, reporting to Blockgraph CEO Jason Manningham. 

“Our long-term vision for the development of Blockgraph has always been to introduce data into the television and OTT marketplace in a safe, secure and sustainable way,” said Manningham, “We knew that the CRO position would be crucial in realizing a sustainable monetization strategy, and Aleck’s demonstrated success in both maximizing revenue performance and delivering new product solutions is why he was the perfect choice for this role.”

Before Amobee, Schleider was with Videology, developing advanced TV data and measurement offerings. Earlier in his career he held posts at Forbes and Advertising.com.

“This is where the industry has to go,” Schleider said. “There needs to be a better communication and collaborative effort between the true owners and the foundations of the industry, and that's what’s happening here.”

Schleider said the mission of Blockgrah is to create a better and more sustainable data-driven media ecosystem that is better faster and more cost efficient.

“If information can move quicker into the systems for addressable targeting with less friction at a lower cost, everybody wins, right? And that's that's really what's happening here,” he said.

And if more brands are willing to bring in their data for addressable television, the industry benefits.

“We have removed the middlemen in terms of the ability to create fluidity for partners to work and bring insights and data back and forth,” he said.

Schleider has spent much of his career working on both the commercial side and the product side of the companies he’s worked for. “This is not a departure from what I have traditionally done, being in the organization as someone who can be on the commercial side, but also very much involved in the product and engineering side. Jason brought me on board because I can work on multiple sides of the fence.”

Schleider said Blockgraph already has a product roadmap of additional offerings.

“Right now, our product is very much about supporting the current participants in the ability to bring in data for addressable VOD and linear addressable, as well as the ongoing effort to further support a better understanding of what's happening across channels between linear and digital, he said. 

Blockgraph is also looking to bring in the additional data partners, measurement companies, distributors and programmers.

With demand for data-driven advertising rising, Comcast Corp., Charter Communication and ViacomCBS have agreed to form a joint venture that would own Blockgraph, a platform aimed at letting marketers and media companies handle data securely.

Blockgraph was started in 2017 by Comcast’s FreeWheel unit and the initiative was joined by Charter and Viacom in 2018.

Jason Manningham, previously general manager of Blockgraph under FreeWheel, has been named CEO of the joint venture, which will be equally owned by the three partners.

The companies declined to say how much they are investing in the venture.

“The value that Blockgraph brings to the industry has never been more important,” said Manningham. “Together with Comcast, Charter and ViacomCBS, we have the opportunity to reshape data driven advertising in a way that’s better and more sustainable for brands, publishers, content distributors and above all else – audiences.”

The companies said that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency among marketers for better targeting and higher returns on their advertising investment.

“When we began to develop Blockgraph several years ago, we knew that the ability to apply data-driven insights to all media, including TV, in a way that protected privacy, was going to be hugely important to the future of our industry. Now, some three years later, that couldn’t be truer, and the alternative that Blockgraph offers could not be more valuable,” said Marcien Jenckes, president of Comcast Advertising.

Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit has been integrating Blockgraph into its AdSmart platform.

“Bringing better data to television for planning, targeting and measurement represents a huge opportunity for our industry, and above all, for advertisers,” said David Kline, executive VP at Charter and president of Spectrum Reach, its ad division. “In order to recognize this opportunity, however, we need to continually and fully ensure that we can use data in a way that protects the privacy of users through technologies that facilitate aggregated and anonymized use of our data. This is an ongoing concern to be addressed collaboratively across the industry, which is why we are so supportive of Blockgraph.”

“Data confidentiality is a necessity for addressable advertising to work at scale. Blockgraph is a platform that will make that easy to implement,” said John Halley, COO, advertising revenue, and executive VP, advanced marketing solutions, ViacomCBS. “We are committed to solutions that enable us to better serve our advertising partners. Blockgraph has the right business approach and partnership framework to successfully move the video ecosystem forward.” 

With demand for data-driven advertising rising, Comcast Corp., Charter Communication and ViacomCBS have agreed to form a joint venture that would own Blockgraph, a platform aimed at letting marketers and media companies handle data securely.

Blockgraph was started in 2017 by Comcast’s FreeWheel unit and the initiative was joined by Charter and Viacom in 2018.

Jason Manningham, previously general manager of Blockgraph under FreeWheel, has been named CEO of the joint venture, which will be equally owned by the three partners. 

The companies declined to say how much they are investing in the venture.

“The value that Blockgraph brings to the industry has never been more important,” said Manningham. “Together with Comcast, Charter and ViacomCBS, we have the opportunity to reshape data driven advertising in a way that’s better and more sustainable for brands, publishers, content distributors and above all else – audiences.”

The companies said that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency among marketers for better targeting and higher returns on their advertising investment. 

“When we began to develop Blockgraph several years ago, we knew that the ability to apply data-driven insights to all media, including TV, in a way that protected privacy, was going to be hugely important to the future of our industry. Now, some three years later, that couldn’t be truer, and the alternative that Blockgraph offers could not be more valuable,” said Marcien Jenckes, president of Comcast Advertising. 

Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit has been integrating Blockgraph into its AdSmart platform.

“Bringing better data to television for planning, targeting and measurement represents a huge opportunity for our industry, and above all, for advertisers,” said David Kline, executive VP at Charter and president of Spectrum Reach, its ad division. “In order to recognize this opportunity, however, we need to continually and fully ensure that we can use data in a way that protects the privacy of users through technologies that facilitate aggregated and anonymized use of our data. This is an ongoing concern to be addressed collaboratively across the industry, which is why we are so supportive of Blockgraph.”

“Data confidentiality is a necessity for addressable advertising to work at scale. Blockgraph is a platform that will make that easy to implement,” said John Halley, COO, advertising revenue, and executive VP, advanced marketing solutions, ViacomCBS. “We are committed to solutions that enable us to better serve our advertising partners. Blockgraph has the right business approach and partnership framework to successfully move the video ecosystem forward.” 

Comcast-owned advanced advertising unit FreeWheel has named former DoubleClick engineering executive Utpal Kalita as chief technology officer and VP of engineering for Blockgraph.

Announced in January, Blockgraphi is a new secure exchange for addressable advertising data, being collaboratively developed through FreeWheel by Charter’s Spectrum Reach unit and Viacom

Kalita joined Blockgraph earlier this year, FreeWheel said. In his CTO role, he is charged with leading, mentoring and growing the blockchain-based ad platform’s engineering team.

Related: Comcast Partners With Charter and Viacom on Blockchain-Enabled Ad Platform

He reports to Blockgraph general manager Jason Manningham.

Kalita’s resume includes stops at Google-owned DoubleClick, Tremor Video (now Telaria), Xaxis (part of WPP’s GroupM) and Eyeview Digital.

“As we looked for a CTO to help us realize our transformative vision, it was critical to find a leader with a strong track record of leading and inspiring teams to pioneer and build large scale platforms and Utpal stood out,” Manningham said in a statement.