Watchwith said it has acquired Arris’s Media  Analysis Framework (MAF), a cloud-based machine learning and automated metadata-generation platform that adds smarts to Watchwith’s native digital advertising platform for premium video.

Arris’s MAF technology is designed to understand the content of video automatically and its context, which plays a big role in deciding when and where native ads (i.e. ads that are placed inside the show itself) are presented in the video that a consumer is watching,  Zane Vella, Watchwith’s CEO, said.

That metadata, he said, brings automation to the cue points in the video where it makes the most sense to place the native ads – which can be interactive overlays or on-screens polls.

And that “machine learning” element? “The more information we feed into it, the smarter it gets,” Vella explained, noting that the analysis is based on the underlying video itself as well as the audio, including natural language processing.

As for context, this placement system for native advertising uses a variety of “recipes” for different types of content, whether it’s a news cast, a sporting event, or a serialized drama.

He said this capability, which is already being used and tested on shows such as USA Network’s Mr. Robot and for campaigns for LG and Toyota, is not only important for digital video delivered on traditional platforms, such as set-top boxes, but also on over-the-top streaming devices and smartphones. “The opportunity and need to monetize those assets in new ways is growing,” he said.

And, for these systems to achieve scale, the decision engine that makes these decisions must shift away from manual processes and instead become automated, which, in turn, reduces operations costs. Watchwith says the new automated process has the potential to eliminate thousands of man-hours.

Watchwith also believes that achieving that level of scale is also vital because programmers must find ways to build and deploy native digital video ad platforms that can compete with those from the likes of Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat.

“At a time when networks are reducing linear ad loads, the need for native digital ad products like Watchwith is higher than ever before,” Vella said.

Watchwith’s partners include Fox, NBCUniversal and Viacom.

Watchwith and Arris aren’t strangers. Arris is an investor in Watchwith, and the two companies have been working together on integration and product development for years. Vella said it was decided that Watchwith’s acquisition of MAF represented the best go-to-market strategy for the technology.

Watchwith and Arris aren’t disclosing the financial terms of the deal, but “several” engineers from Arris, including MAF leader Faisal Ishtiaq, PhD, that developed the technology are joining Watchwith and opening up a new R&D office in Chicago.

The deal comes just the day after Arris agreed to sell its Whole Home Solution assets to Ottawa-based Espial.

Watchwith has struck a deal with marketing analytics firm Moat to measure and authenticate in-program advertising.

Moat said the integration will expand on its measurement capabilities to include Watchwith in-programming advertising for desktop and mobile video apps.  Under that arrangement, it will report on the aggregate audience time spent with advertiser messages while viewing a video and other details on how users are interacting with the in-program ads.

The partnership follows Watchwith recent launch of an in-program ad platform for IP-capable  set-tops, smart TVs and mobile devices, holding that it could open up a new revenue stream for programmers.NBCU’s Bravo is among the early adopters  of the new in-program ad capability. Other Watchwith customers include CBSi, Fox Broadcasting and Viacom.

“The video ad landscape is increasingly complex, with brand engagement happening in different ways, on various devices and platforms, and it’s important that Moat is aligned with the companies enabling these new ad experiences,” said Jonah Goodhart, co-founder and chief executive officer of Moat. “Our partnership with Watchwith ensures we can capture in-program activity from the TV networks and top-tier publishers”

“As TV networks introduce advanced ad products like Watchwith, the industry needs a third-party system to verify viewer engagement no matter where or how it takes place,” added Watchwith CEO Zane Vella. “Now advertisers can buy in-program advertising with even greater confidence”

Watchwith recently closed an $8 million “B” round that included help from existing investors Rogers Venture Partners and Samsung, as well as new investor, Arris, the maker of video, ad-tech and broadband gear and software.

The new round takes Watchwith’s total funding beyond $13 million.

Watchwith, founded in 2012, said it landed the new funds as it helps its TV network and programming partners build “new premium video advertising inventory” without beefing up the pre-roll or mid-roll ad load.

The investment comes on the heels of Watchwith’s intro of an in-program, “contextual” ad platform that can be delivered to IP-connected set-tops, TVs and mobile devices. Watchwith developed the platform, which enables programmers to offer interactive ad avails within shows at pre-set trigger points, amid a trend in which viewers have increasingly become “trained” to have access to ad-free content.  

Watchwith, which views this as a new type of ad inventory, has integrated that cloud-based system with technology from Arris that suggests the best spot to place these interactive, in-program ad overlays.

Watchwith’s customers include Fox, NBCUniversal and Viacom.

“Watchwith is trailblazing a significant net-new revenue opportunity for premium TV programmers,” said Mike Lee, general partner, Rogers Venture Partners, in a statement. “And at the same time, the company solves a critical problem for short-form video content owners in need of alternatives to pre-roll advertising. The company is at the forefront of native video monetization”

An addition to the fresh funding, Watchwith also announced that Brendan Moorcroft, a programmatic advertising pioneer and former CEO of Cadreon, has joined its board.

Opening up a potential new source of revenue for programmers, Watchwith has launched an in-program, "contextual" advertising platform that can be delivered to IP-capable set-tops, smart TVs and mobile devices.

Watchwith, which has developed a national platform for enhanced, companion TV content, said its new program will enable programmers to offer interactive ad avails within shows that would appear at pre-set cue/trigger points.

While most programmers have been monetizing digital video using a pre-roll and interstitial ad model, this in-program approach will open up new opportunities for programmers and their advertisers in a world in which viewers have becoming increasingly “trained” to have access to ad-free content, Zane Vella, founder and CEO of Watchwith, said.

This, he added, will provide a new set of avails within the program itself, as opposed to traditional ad models that interrupt the show.

“This gives programmers a new revenue stream and a valuable new inventory that they can actually monetize,” Vella said, noting that the rule-of-thumb/best practice is to offer one such avail per program segment.

Technically, the new system will allow programmers to select or approve when the advertising message would appear and where on the screen it would appear, Vella said, noting that Watchwith’s system works with existing ad servers from companies such as Google’s DoubleClick.

Watchwith has honed its technology to control when interactive elements such as polls would appear in a program, and can now apply it to in-program advertising. He said Watchwith system has also been integrated with “machine-vision” tech from Arris (Arris is also a Watchwith investor) that suggests the best location to place the in-program ad.

And the approach is multiplatform, as it can be offered on IP-capable set-tops, smartphones, tablets, laptops, and smart TVs with ACR (audio content recognition) technology, the company claimed.

Watchwith said network partners are in active trials today, with NBCU’s Bravo among the early adopters (the new in-program ad capability example shown above is running in Bravo’s Best New Restaurant).

Other announced Watchwith customers include CBSi, Fox Broadcasting and Viacom.