Effectv, Comcast Advertising’s sales unit, said it has added capabilities aimed at helping political advertisers reach voters with multiscreen campaigns.

“With it being a critical election year, we want to make sure that advertisers have the most effective tools and solutions at hand to reach voters and that they are able to more easily run successful end-to-end multiscreen campaigns in one place,” Effectv VP of political sales Chris Vail said. “These new capabilities, coupled with the unique audience data we offer, which allows advertisers to reach specific voters across screens, platforms, and devices, on a regional and local level, will be the key to reaching voters with relevant and personalized ad experiences ahead of November 5.”

The additional capabilities include additional audience segments based on party affiliations and donor activities; net campaigns; building tools to plan, activate and measure campaigns; and enhanced campaign reporting and insights that allow streaming buyers to assess delivery on a geographical basis to the ZIP code level.

Effectv is also working with Dynata to provide insights into how viewers are responding to ads and whether they’re building awareness, recall and intent.

Political advertisers with Effectv can use addressable TV advertising as part of a full-funnel marketing solution to discover, reach, engage and connect with new and existing voters. 

The company says one in three households may be missed without an addressable advertising component in a campaign.

EffecTV TV recently expanded its Audience Addressable product, which uses Comcast data to deliver campaign’s down to the household level across a variety of screens and platforms.

Comcast Advertising said it made a deal with Comscore that will enable the measurement firm’s clients to use Comcast Advertising’s Signal Authentication product to increase the accuracy of their measurement and attribution calculations.

The agreement builds on the existing data partnership between Comcast and Comscore and comes as advertisers have expressed concerns that signal loss is making cross-platform measurement more difficult.

“Our clients are facing many challenges, especially in understanding the true impact of their advertising due to signal loss and privacy regulations,” Comscore chief commercial officer Steve Bagdasarian said. “We’re excited to expand our longtime partnership with Comcast Advertising to enhance identity resolution capabilities. This will give our clients increased confidence in cross-platform measurement and attribution, helping them create more informed media strategies to reach their most valuable audiences.” 

Comcast Advertising’s Signal Authentication service, announced earlier this year, uses data from 32 million U.S. households in a private-protected manner to understand the reach, frequency and outcomes of campaigns across linear and streaming TV and provide stronger identity resolution for marketers and programmers.

“Signal loss and data quality are greatly impacting the ability for advertisers to understand how they are reaching their target audiences, and how their media campaigns are performing,” Comcast Advertising VP and general manager, data Carmela Fournier said.

“Since Comcast Advertising’s solution is based on deterministic household signals across millions of households, we are able to offer reliable, privacy-forward signal authentication at scale,” Fournier said. “We’re excited to further our partnership with Comscore as they become one of the first measurement companies to tap into this service to provide clients a better understanding of their campaign performance and drive improved business results, while upholding the highest standards of consumer privacy.” 

Comscore had been able to use to Comcast set-top viewing data for audience measurement since the two companies struck a deal in 2020.

Comcast’s ad-sales unit began using Comscore data to sell local ads since 2022.

Comcast also licenses set-top data to Nielsen. Nielsen and Comcast renewed and expanded their relationship last year.

Comcast Advertising said it reached an agreement to use TransUnion’s identity graph to build customer advanced audience segments for addressable ad campaigns in Comcast’s footprint of nearly 32 million households.

The Philadelphia-based cable operator will be able to match data about its audiences with TransUnion’s identity assets, helping advertisers more accurately target households.

“With growing issues of signal loss impacting the quality of data, advertisers are seeking more solutions to enable them to accurately target and reach their intended audiences,” Comcast Advertising VP and general manager, data, Carmela Fournier said.

“Addressable TV offers a powerful solution for advertisers to confidently reach their desired consumers that would not have been reached with traditional TV alone; in fact, we’ve found 1 in 3 target households would not have been reached without addressable,” Fournier said. “Our new integration with TransUnion will allow advertisers and agencies to easily tap into valuable audiences delivering effective and efficient addressable advertising at the household level, while upholding the highest standards of consumer privacy.”

“When it comes to audience data, advertisers need to activate at scale, and with speed, ease, and transparency to ensure success,” added Gareth Davies, senior VP, product management at TransUnion. “Our integration with Comcast Advertising will provide advertisers with a better understanding of their high-value audiences, including the size of a specific audience, to activate against and deliver addressable campaigns to households via linear and streaming TV.” 

A majority of viewers — 51% — said the difficulty in finding new content on TV can be frustrating, according to a new report from Comcast Advertising.

The report, titled Content Discovery in a Multiscreen World: Surfing and Scrolling in a Sea of Content, found nearly two out of three U.S. viewers spend more than six minutes searching for something to watch.

“In today’s unbundled world of TV, consumers face a lot of challenges when it comes to discovering content,” Comcast Advertising executive director of insights Travis Flood said. “The goal of TV, whether traditional or streaming, has always been to make audiences feel entertained, not frustrated or overwhelmed. This research provides actionable insights into the process so that content owners and streaming platforms can improve their offerings to enhance the content discovery experience and provide more value to their viewers.” 

The report found that in an era of streaming and on-demand content, channel-surfing is still alive, with 72% of Americans saying they start their search by scrolling through a program guide or app. 

Promos and native ads boost content consideration, according to 85% of U.S. viewers. The platform plays a role in picking content, respondents said, with 51% finding content recommended on the home screen.

The report also said that 94% of viewers said genre was a bit factor in choosing what to watch.

Recommendations from friends, family and co-workers also play a role in how viewers learn about new content.

Comcast said its entertainment operating system and its partners like Xumo try to  make it simpler and easier for customers to find and watch their favorite programming across streaming apps, live channels, on-demand programming via voice search and an aggregated user experience.

“With so much great TV dispersed across an unprecedented number of connected platforms and services, watching TV has become burdensome for consumers,” Marcien Jenckes, president of Xumo and managing director of Comcast Advertising said. “Xumo’s goal is to remove this burden and make TV simple again. Our devices run on Comcast’s Entertainment OS, which makes watching TV easy through features like AI and human-driven show recommendations, FAST channel integration in our grid guide experience, and an unparalleled voice search capability.” 

The research is based on a survey of 2,500 consumers age 18 or older in the U.S., U.K., and Europe in December 2023.

Free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels are gaining viewers’ interest and increasingly being incorporated into advertisers’ media strategies, according to a new joint report from Comcast Advertising and Xumo, the streaming joint venture between Comcast and Charter Communications.

The report found that nearly half of consumers regularly watch at least one FAST service, with FAST viewers using an average of 1.5 services.

In a survey, 56% of viewers said FAST channels are as good as cable channels.

News is the most-viewed genre on FAST, with a 39% share, followed by crime TV, with 17%; movies, at 10%; action and drama, 5%; sports, 5%; and game shows, 3%. Others accounted for 21%.

“Every month, FAST channels are attracting tens of millions of viewers due to the plethora of high-quality programming including content like local news, niche sports, themed movies, enthusiast TV shows, and more,” Marcien Jenckes, president of Xumo and managing director of Comcast Advertising, said. “The results of this research highlight how the advertising industry is responding to FAST, and their increasing interest in its monetization potential.”

The study found that 84% of FAST ad buyers expect their spending on such services to grow in 2024, with 48% of buyers saying they currently use FAST channels in their media planning and buying.

A majority of advertisers said they use FAST channels because they extend the reach of their campaigns. The study found that 88% of the highest-reaching campaign included FAST channels.

FAST channels already account for about 30% of total ad views.

After devoting more ad spend to the channel in 2023 compared to 2022, 84% of buyers think they will increase their FAST investments even more in 2024. Consumer interest and awareness continue to grow around the medium, which offers an engaging, TV-like experience at no cost — in fact, the study reveals, 94% of FAST impressions are delivered on the TV screen.

“I expect demand for FAST to grow in the coming years as pricing pressure on consumers from subscription streaming services mounts,” Megan Halscheid, VP, PMX Marketplace Intelligence at ad buyer Publicis Media, said. “More and more of the viewing audience will look to FAST to add to their viewing experience, making the format increasingly valuable to ad buyers.” 

Comcast Advertising said it has licensed its data to Dynata, a first-party data company.

Comcast data will be incorporated into Dynata’s advertising solutions product suite, enabling marketers to combine viewer data with Dynata’s real-time survey data to assess the performance of campaigns across broadcast, cable, streaming and addressable television with a single-source approach.

“We’re very excited to support Dynata in their efforts to enable marketers to better measure the impact of their media investment and understand consumer perceptions, favorability and intent,” Larry Allen, VP and general manager, Addressable Enablement, Comcast Advertising, said. “Our ecosystem is stronger when marketers and media owners have a clear understanding of how cross-media campaigns perform and how their brand messages impact consumers.” 

NOTE: Allen will be speaking at the Advanced Advertising Summit on Sept. 11 in New York.

Dynata’s increased coverage across Comcast’s representative footprint enhances the stability and reliability of the inputs used to report campaign efficacy. 

The broader reach also helps identify which channels are most appropriate and how to better personalize messaging for the highest engagement and long-term impact.  

“Partnering with Comcast in order to enhance our advertising solutions product suite is a strategic investment in our commitment to deliver innovative products that help our customers make practical marketing decisions through the highest quality and scalable passive television viewership data sets,” Eric Sandberg, managing director of Dynata’s global advertising solutions business, said. “This partnership reflects Dynata’s commitment to delivering customer-centric solutions that enable more accurate insights, smarter strategies and more effective campaigns.” 

In the latest edition of the annual Comcast Advertising Report, the company made a series of predictions about where the industry is heading:

• Linear will look more like digital: Comcast Advertising said the delineation between linear and digital TV will eventually go away, but until that happens TV will become more targetable and executed more nimbly. “It’s critical that the industry continue building the technology infrastructure to easily enable sellers to unify their supply, and make linear behave more like digital, while ensuring that there are updated measurement currencies that can consistently and accurately measure against both,” the report said.

• More streaming platforms will offer bundled subscription plans: With consumers reevaluating how much they’re willing to pay for streaming subscriptions, consolidation or the bundling of streaming providers will continue. Publishers will offer two to three different apps through one subscription. “This is not only a win for the consumer since it lowers the cost of entry, but it also allows streaming providers to offer larger pools of content [ad] buyers can tap into to reach their target audiences,” Comcast said. 

• Collaboration between companies will drive innovation: Comcast said the industry goal should be to improve how TV and premium video advertising are bought and sold.  Companies will continue to work together over the next few years to standardize and address the ongoing issues and opportunities facing the ecosystem, including measurement currencies, generative AI, supply chain optimization and improving viewer experience.

• What’s old will be new again with contextual targeting: With cookies crumbling as a way to identify viewers, contextual targeting will become more sophisticated. “As privacy concerns remain top of mind, the industry will prioritize contextual targeting methods and solutions as a primary tool to ensure advertisers can reach consumers with relevant messages,” the report said.

• Sustainability will have a seat at the table: “Sustainability has become an increasingly important discussion point across the industry in the last few years and it is expected to come to the forefront even more,” Comcast said. “Both buyers and sellers are taking steps now to ensure a better future for the industry and for the planet.”

The report also looked at today’s viewing patterns and ad buying and selling practices based on data from its Effectv ad sales unit and FreeWheel, Comcast’s ad technology company.

Comcast noted that 82% of viewers prefer to watch streamed content on a TV screen, where people pay more attention to ads, compared to a smaller screen, and that viewers consider what’s on FAST and AVOD channels “premium” video. 

Consumers are 58% more likely to recall an ad on professionally produced programming than on user-generated content, Comcast said.

Viewers spend nearly six hours a day watching linear TV and commercial pods in streaming are getting longer, with 34% lasting more than 3 minutes. 

Ad buyers have embraced multiscreen approaches to buying and are increasingly making programmatic deals as more viewing happens on CTV and FAST channels, the report said. Sports is a key to buyers looking for reach, which can be maximized by combining addressable and data-driven linear.

More sellers are using audience targeting to make ads more relevant. They are monetizing live sports with programmatic strategies and 78% of programmatic deals are being sold on a programmatic basis.

The report includes results of study of media buyers and advertisers that found that 94% of advertisers expect to maintain spending in premium streaming channels in the next 12 months.

Cost and frequency controls are the biggest challenges in maximizing TV and video advertising reach. Nearly 40% of those surveyed said they planned to increase spending on streaming video, with 27% devoting extra dollars to FAST channels. But the advertiser said that TV remains a core strategy, with 80% planning to maintain or increase spending on traditional TV in the coming year.

“The industry continues to transform at break-neck speed toward a more data-driven, automated approach to buying and selling advertising,” said James Rooke, president of Comcast Advertising. “As this transformation accelerates, the value of trusted, transparent and engaging viewing environments has never been more important. The Comcast Advertising Report provides a unique and layered perspective into these environments and how buyers, sellers and viewers are navigating today’s complex media landscape.”

Like other advertisers, political campaigns should spend a portion of their budgets on streaming, a new study by Comcast Advertising’s Effectv unit recommends.

While many studies suggest the optimal allocation for product advertisers is about 40% streaming, Effectv says that with political spending, 10% to 20% is the right level. (Effectv says general advertisers should be spending 20% to 30% on streaming.)

Historically, political candidates have heavied up on local broadcast, but Effectv’s study found that more than half of households in the “frequent voter” category reached by streaming were incremental to those reached with traditional TV, and that 9% of frequent voters could only be reached through streaming. 

Also: Advanced Advertising: iSpot.tv Says Advertisers Underspend on Streaming

“With midterms around the corner, advertisers need to pinpoint where they can optimize their budgets — across all mediums — and divide funding accordingly,” Effectv head of political sales Dan Sinagoga said. “Balance is needed now more than ever, with political advertising spend set to hit a record of $9 billion this season, so it’s critical that advertisers plan and optimize campaigns holistically across all screens to reach audiences regardless of how they are consuming TV content.”

Also: Political Advertising Jumps on Sports Programming: Viamedia

Streaming seems to be especially effective at reaching people who are in “light news-viewing” households, Effectv found. 

In order to reach the broadcast possible spectrum of voters, Effectv said TV and streaming work better together. And even though traditional TV remains a foundation for most political campaigns, streaming is increasingly important in helping to reach more likely voters.

“TV viewership is changing before our eyes, and political advertisers need to adjust to that new reality,” Sinagoga added. “Relying on ‘old standbys’ like local news is not enough anymore. Streaming is a critical component to political advertising, and we’re seeing greater success among advertisers who take a multi-screen approach, using streaming as a strong complement to linear TV.” ■

When it comes to advertising, bigger screens mean bigger impact. 

That’s a shorthand way of looking at a new report from Comcast Advertising titled TV Makes Memories.

The study, conducted with MediaScience, found that the outcomes advertisers seek — attention, connection and repetition — are better achieved via premium long-form TV advertising on a big screen than through mobile digital advertising. 

The result was true for commercials appearing on both traditional broadcast and cable TV as well as streaming.

The data shows that unaided recall was 2.2 times higher for the same ad viewed in a big-screen TV environment compared to being seen on a smaller device. Purchase intent was 1.3 times higher.

The study also found that when viewers saw a TV ad before seeing a digital ad, recall and purchase intent were higher than when the viewers saw two digital ads.

“Many of us know instinctually that TV ads are memorable. The jingle that gets stuck in your head, the commercials that make you laugh — all of this is the result of TV’s ability to imprint on your memory in a unique way,” Comcast Advertising president James Rooke said. 

“This research validates TV’s memorability, proving ads viewed in the long-form, lean-back TV environment have greater unaided recall and purchase intent versus the same ads shown in a short-form, small-screen digital mobile feed. Engagement is a metric that increasingly matters to our clients, and with this research, we’re showing how powerful TV and streaming are when it comes to building that engagement," Rooke said.

The study also found that ads viewed in the TV environment generated more visual attention as participants watched 71% of the ad, compared to just 30% of digital mobile ads — likely a result of the full-screen viewing experience versus the distractions inherent with the digital experience.

Participants rated the creative message better when an ad seen in the TV environment preceded an ad in the digital mobile environment. 

“Once again we see the power of cross-platform synergy,” MediaScience CEO Duane Varan said. “Here, social media and digital video work best when they activate memory structures built through the kind of brand equity that TV delivers.  It’s a powerful combination.” ■

Comcast Advertising said it named Pooja Midha as executive VP and general manager of Effectv, the company’s advertising sales division.

Midha had been chief growth officer of Comcast Advertising. She succeeds James Rooke, who was promoted to president of Comcast Advertising in July and will report to Rooke.

In her new role, Midha will oversee Comcast Advertising’s sales team, operations, products, data innovation and insights and customer experience. She will aim to drive growth in addressable, multi-screen and audience-based advertising, the company said.

Midha was reportedly among the executives considered to run Netflix’s new ad sales operation.

“Pooja is the right leader for Effectv at this time, especially as the company continues its transformation within the rapidly changing television landscape,” said Rooke. “Through her recent work at Comcast Advertising, as well as her work within the industry as a catalyst in driving innovation across both sales and software for premium video advertising, I am confident that she will lead the Effectv team to the next level of success.” 

Before joining Comcast Advertising, Midha was president of true[X} and served as senior VP, digital ad sales and operations for ABC. Earlier she was with Viacom and Dow Jones & Co. 

She was named one of Broadcasting+Cable’s Wonder Women in 2021.

“I’m excited, humbled and very much looking forward to leading Effectv in my new role,” Midha said. “In  the last two years, Effectv has made significant progress in its mission to become the world’s smartest  audience delivery company. I can’t wait to start working with the leadership team and network of  talented employees to accelerate industry innovation and drive business results for our clients by combining the power of TV with the best of digital to connect their brands with multi-screen audiences.”  ■

Fifteen or 20 years ago, a TV advertising sale was simply that: the sale of advertising units from a seller to an agency or advertiser. The deal was done, handshakes were made, spreadsheets were completed, and invoices were sent. If it didn’t run to the advertiser’s liking, calls were made and makegoods were provided. 

Of course, that’s nothing like it is today, when the amount of work that happens behind the scenes of an ad sale is enough to make your head spin. 

What’s the solution to make this less mysterious -- more turnkey, more efficient, quicker -- while still maintaining accuracy? Good talent helps. Differentiated product and technology helps too (how many times have you heard the term “must buy”?). 

But, the work between the ad sale and the invoice is really where the answer lies. This area is what I like to call “the engine room.” As the name suggests, it’s the human and automated mechanisms that make advertising happen. It’s the pricing, the forecasting, the creative, the fulfillment, the targeting, the pacing adjustments, and the data, the data, the data. And it’s ready for an upgrade. 

How to Make the Engine Room Run Smoothly

An engine room must be capable of meeting the needs of advertising today and beyond. The reality is that many sellers need an engine room upgrade because the old one was built for a past era. Today, it is increasingly responsible for things that didn’t even exist fully in the advertising lexicon 15 years ago: first-party data, streaming services, inventory fraud, addressability, dynamic ad decisioning, player profiles, programmatic and viewability, just to name a few. 

Updating the engine room is no easy feat, but if you’re a buyer of media (an agency or an advertiser), it’s critical to ensure you’re having the right conversations with your supply partners about how they’re putting the focus and investment into building out an engine room that supports not just today, but tomorrow. After all, it’s no longer about simply flipping a switch the day your campaign goes live; there should be a fully integrated team with expertise in data, yield, pricing, targeting, forecasting, optimization, and cross-screen attribution. 

Now, that’s a lot to upgrade and in a world where traditional TV and digital continue to converge. Building the engine room of the future will be an evolution, but one that has to be very deliberate. This means prioritizing in a way that delivers incremental value today, while being disciplined about investing in the new building blocks that will unlock future value for advertisers. TV will not be digital, and digital will not be TV; we need to bring together the best of both.

A Peek into the Engine Room

The engine room used to work in the shadows of advertising, regarded as “back office” or “behind the scenes.” But as TV advertising has spread out across endpoints, its complexity has increased. This has created the need for both the buy side and sell side to increase transparency on the engine room to build trust and confidence for advertiser success and outcomes. 

By having more open conversations about the complexities under the hood, the buy-side and sell-side can work together to optimize against campaign goals…together. Publishers that do this will build that trust and confidence against the backdrop of increased complexity, in particular as linear and streaming supply is increasingly managed as a single pool, as advertising becomes more audience-based and more addressable, and as brand and performance marketing continue to work together in more intelligent ways with increased volume executed through programmatic pipes.

Advertisers should also understand what elements of the advertising process will ultimately be self-service options, whether that be the ability to take action themselves or get visibility into what’s happening in the engine room. This is particularly important as use of first-party data becomes more prevalent, third-party cookies begin to gradually phase out, and advertisers and publishers are more interested in privacy safe data enablement. More exposure to how the engine room works should build trust and put advertisers at ease by providing insight into what audiences advertisers are reaching, and what screens their campaigns are running on. It also gives them the ability to tweak campaigns mid-flight if it isn’t going to plan – an advantage of automated buying. 

The Path to Clarity

As the engine rooms of sellers across around the globe adapt to the changing needs of today’s complex advertising ecosystem, advertisers will benefit from having a sense of what is happening there and working together with suppliers on making it run more smoothly to achieve shared goals. By paying attention to the once-hidden engine room, the industry can build seamless and less time-consuming processes, even as data and automation continue to grow in importance. Patience will be important because the engine rooms won’t change overnight. In the meantime, be sure you know what’s happening in the engine rooms, whether you’re a buyer or a seller. This is the path to clarity. ■

Comcast Advertising said that James Rooke has been promoted to president. Rooke had been general manager of Effectv, Comcast Cable’s ad sales unit, and will also oversee Comcast Cable’s FreeWheel and AudienceXpress.

Rooke will continue to report to his predecessor, Marcien Jenckes, who was named managing director of Comcast Advertising. In May Jenckes was also named head of the joint venture of Comcast and Charter Communications that aims to create a new streaming platform.

Before running Effectv, Rooke was managing director of FreeWheel, Comcast’s ad tech company.

“I could not think of a more qualified person to lead Comcast Advertising during one of the most exciting, transformative times in television advertising,” said Jenckes. “His work at both Effectv and FreeWheel give him a unique perspective from which to lead the company, and I look forward to working beside him to take Comcast Advertising to its next level of success.”

Also: Streaming Adds Reach to TV Ad Campaigns: Effectv Report

Rooke’s successor at GM of Effectv has not yet been named.

Comcast credited Rooke with giving Effectv a more data-driven advertising focus and launching FreeWheel first video marketplace. 

“I’ve had the privilege of working across both the software and media business within Comcast Advertising and look forward to combining those experiences in this new role,” said Rooke. “I believe the opportunity for Comcast Advertising is unparalleled. I’m honored to accept this new position and cannot wait to continue my work with the broader leadership team to evolve the future of TV advertising for the better.” ■

Before joining Comcast, Rooke held posts with Time Warner Cable, Capgemini and Ernst & Young.  ■

Comcast Advertising found that multi-screen campaigns achieved maximum reach when 20% to 30% of spending went to streaming.

According to the 2022 Comcast Advertising Report released today, when spending on streaming exceeded 40%, reach declined because while streaming can provide incremental reach, it is still traditional TV that serves as the foundation for the 20,000 campaigns it studied.

“As viewership continues to fragment across devices, advertisers should increasingly focus on 'following the audience' wherever they choose to watch. Advertisers who rely only on traditional ‘standbys’ like primetime and top networks will see their campaign reach decline, as consumers spread out their consumption. By using ever-increasing data on viewing across all endpoints, marketers will help foster an ecosystem driven by audiences and outcomes, rather than content," the report found.

The report, which contained information from both Comcast Advertising’s Effectv sales division and its FreeWheel ad tech unit, said that ad views bought programmatically have grown 80% year over year as advertisers see programmatic buying as a way to reach specific audiences more efficiently. 

Even as they turn to automation, advertisers still want the security of guarantees. Comcast reports that in the second half of 2021 guaranteed programmatic accounted for 60% of programmatic video impressions. 

At the same time, sellers are working with over 60% more programmatic partners on average compared to a year prior, working with up to 30 different companies.

“Buyers today also have the opportunity to be better connected with their media partners – both figuratively and literally, thanks to technology. A direct connection from buyer to seller allows for more flexibility and fluidity and is a must in today’s multifaceted advertising environment," according to the report.

The report also put in a good word for the effectiveness of addressable campaigns. 

Comcast Advertising recently worked with a luxury automotive brand, that achieved three times higher conversion rates with in-market car buyers who were reached through addressable advertising. “This makes sense as these buyers were previously identified as having a high likelihood of purchasing,” the report said. The brand also committed to a broader data-driven traditional TV campaign which helped to reach more buyers. Nearly one-third of those who ultimately purchased were not identified as having been in-market.

“Advertisers should use a combination of tactics to achieve their goals: Reach more potential buyers with traditional data-driven TV and then use addressable advertising as a tactic to reach those more likely to buy sooner,” the report said. 

“This has been an incredible year for TV advertising’s progress and innovation, and this is clearly evident in the discussions we’re having every day,” said Mark McKee, general manager of FreeWheel. “From addressable, to programmatic, to first-party data – the opportunities are there for advertisers to do more with their budgets and connect better with sellers. It’s critical for them to look at the industry from all sides to understand where the opportunities lie, and this report can help them do that.”

The report concludes with predictions about the ad market:

■ Streaming will increase -- as will its importance to advertising.

■ The shift to audience-based buying will give way to new measurement currencies.

■ The importance of first-party data will grow.

■ Addressable advertising will finally scale.

“The TV advertising landscape is incredibly complex now, and there are more players in the space than ever,” said Marcien Jenckes, managing director, Comcast Advertising. “While most reports focus on a single view of this complexity, Comcast Advertising is in a unique position to see it from all angles – how viewers are viewing, buyers are buying, and sellers are selling. With this perspective, we are able to truly see what works and what doesn’t in today’s landscape, and provide fact-based insights and predictions about how advertisers can optimize their spend.” ■

Comcast Technology Solutions said it launched a new system for inserting addressable advertising into national linear programming feeds.

Comcast Advertising, another division of Comcast, has signed up as the first TV distributor to use the new Linear Rights Metadata Management (LRM) technology to support its addressable advertising initiatives. 

“At Comcast Advertising, we’re fully committed to accelerating the growth of addressable TV and making it easier for advertisers to incorporate it into their campaigns,” said Larry Allen, VP and general manager, data and addressable enablement, Comcast Advertising. “LRM, along with Comcast Technology Solutions’ expertise in implementing SCTE 224, will provide operators, programmers, and advertisers with the backend technology needed to seamlessly drive scale and simplify the advertising workflow.”

The new system aggregates the metadata of advertising assets, normalizes it into SCTE 224 format, and stores it in the cloud. The data gets distributed to multiple endpoints, ad decision managers and software adapters.

Also: Charter, Comcast Set Joint Venture To Create New Streaming Platform 

"This new industry solution is helping to further drive innovation and scale in addressable advertising by reducing much of the friction that currently exists," said Bart Spriester, VP and  general manager of the Content and Streaming Providers suite for Comcast Technology Solutions. "We are removing many of the manual processes and variations around metadata that have historically hampered the progress of implementing linear addressable ads. We’re confident that LRM can help play a central role in accelerating addressable TV."

Beyond LRM, Comcast Technology Solutions offers its Advertising Suite, which is being used by programmers to support upcoming addressable advertising deployments. CTS said the Advertising Suite provides centralized management of creative ad inventory and streamline workflows automatically and delivers a comprehensive solution for addressable ad management, personalization, ad intelligence and scalability, giving customers the visibility and control needed to optimize ROI on addressable TV 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’s advertising division said it has licensed viewing data from the set-top boxes in subscribers’ home to VideoAmp, one of the measurement companies looking to provide an alternative to Nielsen in the race to provide a cross-platform currency for buying and selling TV advertising.

VideoAmp uses big data from set-top boxes and smart TVs to estimate deduplicated audiences. Adding data from Comcast’s footprint should make VideoAmp’s product more stable and reliable, the companies said.

“We are thrilled to work with Comcast as a way to advance national and local media currency solutions. This furthers our mission of providing a new, software-based media currency that creates higher return on ad spending for advertisers and additional revenue for publishers,” said VideoAmp founder and CEO Ross McCray.

Also: VideoAmp Renews Key Vizio Deal For TV Viewing Information

VideoAmp is working with Paramount, which is selling some of its national ad inventory using currencies based on VideoAmp data. WarnerMedia and Discovery have also announced they are testing currencies based on data from VideoAmp, Comscore and iSpot.tv.

The TV industry has accelerated its search for alternative measurement after Nielsen was found to have undercounted viewing during the pandemic. Nielsen also disclosed that it hadn’t been including some out-of-home viewing in its national ratings. Nielsen’s national ratings service lost its Media Rating Council accreditation. Its local ratings service isn’t accredited either.

VideoAmp and other data-driven companies have spring up to try to bring the industry alternative approaches to better capturing TV viewing at a time when video is being consumed on a myriad of platforms, services and devices.

“We’re very excited to support VideoAmp as they pioneer the next chapter of cross-platform audience measurement. This announcement marks a significant milestone in our journey to spur measurement innovation. Our ecosystem is stronger when brands and media owners can transact on multiple currencies and when such currencies exist for cross-platform measurement,” said Comcast Advertising president Marcien Jenckes.

Comcast did not say it would be using or testing VideoAmp currencies generated using Comcast's data.

VideoAmp is also working with five major media agency holding companies.

Media buyers said adding Comcast data would help VideoAmp.

“This is a really exciting time for alternative currency and the future of measurement within our industry," said Brad Stockton, senior VP, U.S. National Video Innovation at dentsu. “This partnership announcement sets the stage for even greater innovation and accuracy for advertisers to truly hold their media accountable. We look forward to continuing to see progress in this space, and are excited for this integration."  ■

Comcast Advertising named Tracey Kopper-Hourin as senior VP of human resources and customer experience, effective February 1.

Kopper-Hourin had been head of human resources for FreeWheel, Comcast’s ad tech company. She succeeds Sandy Gunn, who retired.

In her new post, Kopper-Hourin will aim to attract, grow and retain talent and foster and atmosphere of diversity and inclusion. She will also oversee customer and employee experience for Comcast Advertising and its Effectv and FreeWheel units.

She reports to Marcien Jenckes, president of Comcast Advertising.

“Tracey is the right choice to lead Comcast Advertising forward at such a critical time in the history of workplace engagement, employee retention and professional development, as we collectively rethink the workplace of the future,” said Jenckes. “I could not be happier that Tracey is now going to be able to share her talents across the entire Comcast Advertising organization and help lead us in shaping the right team for the next decade of success.”

Prior to Comcast, Tracey held human resources leadership roles at ADP, Eastern Research and Bell Atlantic Business Systems. ■

Multichannel News is pleased to announce 15 Wonder Women of Los Angeles, who will be celebrated at a virtual event on Monday, June 7.

A diverse group of successful executives in a range of fields at companies involved with programming, streaming technology, advertising and consulting. This is MCN’s third L.A.-based extension of its Wonder Women program. Look for announcements (on mcnwonderwomen.com) coming soon about the 2021 New York Wonder Women, to be celebrated in September, and for a new Wonder Women program centered around San Francisco.

Wonder Women of Los Angeles on June 7 will kick off a packed month of Future events, continuing with the Summer TV Events slate of the TV Data+Measurement Summit on Wednesday, June 9, and TV+Sports Summit on Thursday, June 10, and closing with the Pride TV Summit on Wednesday, June 23.

“These 15 leaders in both traditional and emerging categories of the TV industry are true Wonder Women, whose stories we’re proud to share with our readers and guests at the event on June 7,” Bill Gannon, VP and global editor-in-chief of Multichannel News, Broadcasting+Cable and Next TV, said. “Their wit and wisdom will be a great beginning to our Summer TV Events season.”

Also read: Celebrating Women on Video's Cutting Edge 

In alphabetical order, with links to their bios, these are the 2021 Wonder Women of Los Angeles.

Lauren Anderson, Co-Head of Content and Programming, IMDb TV.

Andrea Clarke-Hall, Head of Global Business Development, Head of Global Business Development, Tubi.

Angela Courtin, Vice President of Brand Marketing, YouTube.

Jackie Donaldson, Vice President of Global Product Strategy, Disney Streaming.

Dee Harris-Lawrence, Showrunner, Executive Producer, David Makes Man, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

Jaya Kolhatkar, Executive Vice President, Data, Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International.

Amy Kuessner, Senior Vice President of Content Strategy and Global Partnership, Pluto TV.

Audrey Lee, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Starz.

Alison Levin, Vice President of Global Ad Revenue and Marketing Solutions, Roku.

Susan Levison, Senior Vice President and Head of WWE Studios, WWE.

Pooja Midha, Chief Growth Officer, Comcast Advertising.

Cathy Oh, Vice President and Global Head of Marketing and Analytics, Samsung Ads.

Duan Peng, Senior Vice President of Data & Artificial Intelligence, WarnerMedia.

Romina Rosado, Executive Vice President, Entertainment and Content Strategy, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.

Michelle Wroan, Managing Partner, Los Angeles, KPMG LLP.

Comcast Advertising said it hired Rick Mandler as VP, growth strategy, a new position.

Mandler, who was most recently senior VP of strategy and operations at true[X] and spent 26 years at Walt Disney Co. and ABC, will be looking for ways to help Comcast Advertising increase its revenue and market share.

He will report to Pooja Midha, the former president of true[X] who joined Comcast Advertising in March as chief growth officer. Midha and Mandler will ramp up marketing of Comcast Advertising two main brands, FreeWheel and Effectv, which recently launched a sales development division.

“Rick brings a deep knowledge of the TV and video ecosystem and extensive experience working in advanced advertising. He has a natural talent for collaborating across functions and leading teams to distill and communicate complex ideas in a simple manner,” said Midha. “I truly enjoyed working with him previously and when this opportunity came, I knew Rick would be an excellent addition to my team here. I’m thrilled that he’s decided to join us and bring his skills to Comcast Advertising.”

At ABC, Mandler was VP, strategy and digital media sales. Before that he was VP, general manager for The Walt Disney Internet Group’s enhanced TV, broadcasting and local division.

“I learned a lot from my three years working with Pooja at true[X] and I’m very honored that she thought of me for this new role,” Mandler said. “I’m looking forward to working with her and the leadership team to pioneer new ways to connect brands with their audiences and drive meaningful results in today’s dynamic marketplace.”

Program Note: Advanced Advertising Summit is today (April 27), register for free at SpringTVEvents.com.

Comcast Advertising named Tony Sanchez as VP, customer experience, a new post at the Comcast division.

Sanchez, who had been VP of operations for the customer experience product team, will spearhead the company’s customer and employee focus and work with Comcast Corp.’s diversity, equity and inclusion teams.

He will oversee the Net Promoter System, the customer and employee experience methodology, designed to aggregate feedback and make it actionable, and other programs.

The 13-year Navy veteran and Seal team officer will report to Sandy Gunn, senior VP, human resources, for Comcast Advertising.

“Delivering a simple, consistent and excellent customer experience has always been such a critical part of what we do,” Gunn said. “In his time at Comcast, Tony and his team have demonstrated a passion for the customer and employee experience and an unwavering commitment to making it the best it can be. We are delighted to have a smart, strategic and people-oriented leader like Tony leading this charge.”

Sanchez joined Comcast in 2017 and helped launch the Xfinity Assistant, which answers questions from customers and is available all day. Usage of Xfinity Assistant is up 445%. Before joining Comcast he held posts at Neuberger Berman, Bernstein Global Wealth Management, Kensy Nash and Stryker.

“Regardless of the industry sector, delivering superior customer experiences and customer relationships are critical to long-term business success, especially in today’s times,” Sanchez said. “I experienced this firsthand in my most recent role at Comcast and I am excited for the opportunity to find new ways of engaging with customers in the more complex business-to-business space in my new post.”

Comcast’s advertising division named Pooja Midha as chief growth officer, a new post at the company.

Midha, most recently president of ad tech company true[x], will oversee global marketing across Comcast Advertising, Effectv and FreeWheel. Comcast Advertising has been pushing advanced advertising, including addressability, audience based campaigns, multi-screen content and using data to boost effectiveness.

She will report to Comcast Advertising president Marcien Jenckes.

Also Read: FreeWheel Taps Yuling Ma as Chief Technology Officer

“Pooja has been a great partner and leader in the advanced advertising space for many years,” Jenckes said. “Now that she has joined our team, we are beyond excited that she will channel her exceptional skills and vision to help us drive growth during this time of true transformation.

“Her ability to sort through complexity, synthesize technology and drive marketing innovation is unmatched in the industry and will be invaluable to both our company and our clients.”

Midha was president of true[X] as it was acquired by The Walt Disney Co. when it bought 21st Century Fox, and then as it was sold to Gimbal in 2020. 

Before true[X], she held posts at ABC, Viacom and started her career in ad sales at Dow Jones & Co.

“I’m thrilled to join the Comcast family at such an exciting time for the company and the industry. The work that Comcast Advertising is doing across Effectv and FreeWheel to more effectively connect brands with their audiences and drive measurable results is industry-leading and inspiring,” said Midha. “I look forward to helping to propel this work and the company to the next level.”

As the television industry moves toward commercials that are more targeted, Discovery is joining the On Addressability initiative, which was launched last year by the ad units of three of the industry’s largest distributors.

The initiative, started by Charter Communications’ Spectrum Reach, Comcast Advertising and Cox Media, aims to provide large-scale, standardized addressable advertising in video on demand and linear TV.

Joining On Addressability enables Discovery to offer advertisers advanced advertising capabilities across its 18 U.S. networks.

“Discovery has long been at the forefront of the movement to bring linear addressable advertising to the U.S. ad sales market,” said Keith Kazerman, executive VP, digital sales, advanced advertising and research, Discovery, Inc. “This initiative is a major milestone and represents a huge step forward in scaling Discovery’s addressable offering.”

Discovery has been offering driven advanced advertising through its Engage data platform.

“Addressability has always been a north star here for both us and the industry,” Kazerman said. “The real need we’ve heard from clients directly and from agencies is scale. Bringing our 18 networks and great audiences and partnering with three of the largest MVPs answers that call with content scale, execution scale and penetration scale. We’re really excited we are delivering that spark and real momentum for linear addressability in national breaks.”

Kazerman said the three MVPDs are already able to deliver addressable campaigns across their combined footprints and that, even in the midst of a pandemic, that's something advertisers want. He said that when advertisers do spend marketing dollars, they want to really understand the impact of their marketing spend, and having an addressable target maximizes the effectiveness of ad placements.

“We’re very excited to have Discovery join On Addressability. When we launched this call to action last year, the focus at the time was working with distributors, such as Charter and Cox, to create the foundation. Now, we’re embarking on the next big chapter, by working with programmers such as Discovery to build out that inventory,” said Gina Mingioni, senior VP, strategy and operations, Comcast Advertising. “Discovery’s joining is a testament to the scale, support and industry adoption we’ve seen behind On Addressability.”

As a programmer, Discovery joins AMC Networks, which signed up for On Addressability in June.

“Discovery’s participation in On Addressability makes a valuable addition to options for reaching a range of audiences, from broad reach to specific audiences,” added Louis Gump, senior VP, Cox Media. “This milestone adds to the growing momentum to bring enhanced addressability to the media landscape to meet the needs of our advertising customers.”

Local and regional media planners and buyers said not only has the COVID-19 pandemic had a large impact on their 2020 plans, but 33% are already certain it will affect their 2021 plans as well, according to a new survey by Comcast Advertising.

Asked what changes they might look to make next year, 30% said they will look for new opportunities for advertising efficiencies, 25% said they would explore new channels, 20% said they would explore new ways to use data and 15 said they would change their approach to targeting.

The Coronavirus is already having a big impact this year. In the survey 65% of the buyers said the pandemic would have a large impact on their 2020 advertising plans, with another 29% saying there would be some impact.

That said, 93% of the buyers said they felt it was important to keep advertising during this time, though they noted it was only possible if dollars are available. To stay relevant, 67% said their clients are already incorporating COVID-19 messaging into their advertising and 14% said they might in the future.

Buyers said they were looking at advanced media solutions, including using programmatic buying and putting some of their video budget towards video on demand, over-the-top, addressable or targeted linear. The share of buyers who have allocated budget toward advanced advertising has grown to 91% from 79% in a similar study last October.

“The events of the past few months have posed a challenge to many agency buyers, especially those who buy on behalf of local and regional businesses,” said Maria Weaver, chief marketing officer, Comcast Advertising. “Our study revealed that these buyers are impacted, but they’re not sitting still. In many cases, they are finding ways to be more efficient with their dollars through the use of data, targeting, and automation.”

Comcast Advertising’s study was based on an April survey of 194 users of its Strata platform.

Comcast Cable is rebranding its Spotlight advertising sales division as Effectv to reflect that in a changing television environment, it can show advertisers the impact of the campaigns it runs.

The company said the name should be pronounced “e-FEC-tiv’ as the company shifts its emphasis from traditional spot sales to a focus on data-driven and addressable advanced advertising.

The new branding was unveiled on the Saturday Night Live stage in New York’s Rockefeller Center.

Related: Comcast Brands New NBCU Streaming Service ‘Peacock,’ Announces Launch Slate

Effectv also unveiled two new products. One helps advertisers plan campaigns aimed at specific audiences, such as in-market SUV buyers. Another is designed to deliver messages that are addressable at the household level within linear programming.

“Our new name, Effectv, reflects our commitment to drive better performance for our advertising clients,” said Marcien Jenckes, president of Comcast Advertising. “By applying data to television advertising in new ways, across all screens, and making it easier to buy than ever before, we’re transforming TV advertising. We combine the targeting and measurement of digital, with the reach and impact of television – an unbeatable combination.”

Effectv said its combination of media and technology can help advertisers whether they’re seeking broad-reach content-based buys, more targeted campaigns aimed at audience segments or looking for a direct result--such as website visits.

“As we evolve to a more data-driven future, the work that Effectv is doing will make television a more effective, accountable medium for advertisers,” said Jenckes. “These addressable solutions, as supported by our On Addressability efforts launched in Cannes, ensure that television will continue to be the most effective marketing medium for advertisers.”

Comcast Cable launched its On Addressability initiative with Charter Communications and Cox Communication in June in order to standardize and simplify addressable advertising, starting with distributors.

Effectv’s new products are:

Earlier this year, the company announced TV Ad Planner, a self-service platform that allows small businesses and local advertisers to plan, design and manage advertising campaigns on their own computers at affordable price points.

“Our new name reinforces our mission of partnering with clients to deliver results that matter to them,” said Maria Weaver, chief marketing officer at Comcast Advertising. “With the rollout of Effectv’s product suite over the past year, we can offer clients solutions to find their customers, target those audiences, report on delivery, and most importantly, prove effectiveness.” 

Comcast Advertising has announced that veteran pay TV advertising executive Joel Armijo will replace longtime company denizen Bill Haase as the division's CFO, following Haase quiet departure in January. He’ll report to Marcien Jenckes, president of Comcast Advertising.

Armijo arrives in Philadelphia from New York-based start-up virtual pay TV company FuboTV, where he also served as CFO. He also served as CFO of AT&T AdWorks from 2015-2016 following AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV—Armijo had worked at the VP level at the satellite TV operator starting in 2012. Comcast notes that Armijo was instrumental in driving DirecTV into addressable advertising.

Other previous stops included Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the erstwhile Cablevision.

“The job and skill set of today’s CFO has changed dramatically from what it was 10, or even five, years ago. Joel brings a very well rounded background and stood out,” Jenckes said. “He has helped launch and raise venture capital funding for new category entrants, built teams from scratch, led companies through major new product launches and mergers and acquisitions, and covered our industry as an equity analyst. His skill set is incredibly versatile, rich and diverse and we are excited to have him on board.”