Tubi, the free, ad-supported service formerly known as Tubi TV, has hired Mark Rotblat as chief revenue officer, who will head up global sales and partnerships.

Rotblat joins Tubi from Adobe Systems, where he was senior director of agency sales and activation for Adobe Advertising Cloud. He was also part of TubeMogul's founding team (Adobe acquired TubeMogul, a company focused on programmatic advertising tech and services, in 2016 for $540 million).

RELATED: Tube Mogul Sold to Adobe for $540M

Rotblat also joins Tubi in the wake of a “C” round of funding that pushed total funding raised by the AVOD specialist past $35 million. Lionsgate, MGM and Stanford University are among the backers of Tubi, which recently landed a strategic investment from Tegna.

RELATED: Tubi TV Raises $20M More

“With deep experience in the complexities of programmatic advertising and go-to-market sales strategies, Mark provides the right leadership and industry insights for our sales teams,” Farhad Massoudi, Tubi’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have Mark join us as CRO, where his expertise will keep us well-equipped to help our partners grow their advertising revenue in the years ahead.”

Rotblat holds an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a BS from Duke University, and resides in the Bay area with his wife and children.

Adode said it agreed to buy programmatic TV advertising platform TubeMogul for $540 million.

Adobe said the acquisition of TubeMogul will create the first end-to-end independent advertising and data management solution that spans TV and digital formats, simplifying what has been a complex and fragmented process for the world’s biggest brands.

The acquisition of TubeMogul further strengthens Adobe’s digital marketing and advertising technology.

“Whether it’s episodic TV, indie films or Hollywood blockbusters, video consumption is exploding across every device and brands are following those eyeballs,” said Brad Rencher, executive VP and general manager, digital marketing, Adobe. “With the acquisition of TubeMogul, Adobe will give customers a ‘one-stop shop’ for video advertising, providing even more strategic value for our Adobe Marketing Cloud customers.”

Read more at B&C.

For the first time, a majority of U.S. viewers have TV sets connected to the Internet, according to data released today by Frank N. Magid Associates and advertising software maker TubeMogul.

Connected TV penetration -- through gaming consoles, set-top boxes and smart TVs -- has more than doubled from 26% of U.S. households in 2013 to 53% this year. The study, based on Magid's online polling of 2,400 Americans last June, found the number rises to 64% among Americans ages 19 to 37.

The trends outlined in the study have broad implications for programming, distribution, advertising and every other corner of the TV and video marketplace. They've been hotly debated throughout this year's edition of the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The means of connection have also shifted along with the rise in households. In 2013, 64% of connected homes went through a gaming device. This year, that number decreased to 45%. Smart TV connection grew from 29% to 38%, while Roku’s penetration increased 91% to 21% of households. Similarly, Google Chromecast netted a 14% share in less than two years on the market.

This influx of hardware follows directly behind the expansion of content options. In 2015, subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Instant Video increased by almost 10 percentage points over 2014 levels, to 62% among the general population and 76% among consumers ages 19-37.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

And the Oscar for programmatic buying goes to ad agency DigitasLBi, which for the first time used software to purchase ads in the Academy Awards broadcast.

Acting on behalf of a client that asked not to be identified publicly, DigitasLBi bought local TV spots in nine markets through the programmatic partnership between media software companies TubeMogul and WideOrbit.

The Oscar buy follows a Super Bowl ad bought programmatically by Mondelez for its Oreos and Ritz brands in the Erie, Pa., market, and illustrates that programmatic buying is steadily spreading from the digital realm to the TV universe.

Programmatic buying automates the sales process and uses big data to identify advertising inventory that closely matches a marketer’s target audience.

“We wanted to really get in the marketplace with programmatic television,” says Scott Marsden, senior VP media at DigitasLBi. “Obviously we know that there is going to be more and more availability of inventory there and we want to develop the expertise as quickly and possible.”

Read more at B&C. 

WideOrbit, a supplier of ad management software, and digital branding software specialist TubeMogul said they have combined to create a programmatic platform that will enable brands and agencies to buy broadcast TV and digital video advertising.

They said the joint offering matches advertiser demand from TubeMogul’s platform with broadcaster and network inventory from WideOrbit’s WO Programmatic-TV online marketplace.  WideOrbit noted that audiences from major broadcasters such as The E.W. Scripps Company and Raycom Media are available for purchase at WO Programmatic-TV’s launch point.

Under the deal, WideOrbit will be TubeMogul’s exclusive source of local broadcast advertising inventory. TubeMogul, meanwhile, will be the exclusive programmatic platform permitted to purchase inventory through WideOrbit’s ad exchange through March 31, 2015.

They claim the combination will speed up and simplify the TV advertising buying and selling process.

“TV ads have been purchased with the same slow manual processes since the Mad Men era. Today’s announcement represents a tipping point in the history of television, the moment when advertisers can buy across every screen with software,” said Brett Wilson, co-founder and CEO of TubeMogul, in a statement.

“There are many ways buyers want to buy programmatically, but TubeMogul stood out as the perfect partner because of its strict focus on the buy-side and dedication to the medium of video,” added Eric R. Mathewson, founder and CEO of WideOrbit. “WideOrbit remains a sell-side programmatic solution representing the needs of broadcasters and networks. TubeMogul’s 100% commitment to the demand-side perfectly corresponds with the needs of our sell-side clients.”