Disney, The Trade Desk Deal Aims To Accelerate Programmatic Sales

Disney Advertising and The Trade Desk said they made a deal that will make Disney’s addressable advertising more widely available via programmatic channels.

The Trade Desk CTV Study

(Image credit: The Trade Desk)

The companies will also be collaborating on audience data, with Disney’s Audience Graph being integrated with Unified ID 2.0, the open-source identity framework being championed by The Trade Desk.

“With this agreement, Disney and The Trade Desk are pioneering a new approach to audience addressability in a post-cookie environment,” said Tim Sims, chief revenue officer at The Trade Desk. “By creating interoperability between Unified ID 2.0 and Disney’s Audience Graph, we are unlocking the opportunity for our customers to activate their first-party data at scale programmatically, against some of the world’s most premium content, across all channels. As a result, advertisers will be able to deliver relevant advertising, while ensuring consumers have more control of their own privacy.”

The integration potentially foreshadows similar integrations with other publishers, The Trade Desk said. Media buyers Publicis Groupe, IPG and Omnicom Media Group have also adopted Unified ID 2.0.

Disney Advertising is implementing this expanded capability with advertisers over the next several months while setting the stage to support interoperability across other demand partners and platforms.

Disney has declared that it aims to generate half of its addressable revenue through programmatic channels by 2024.

“We have spent years investing in our data and technology strategy to create innovative solutions for advertisers to engage their audiences with greater precision and accuracy in a privacy-focused way,” Rita Ferro, president, advertising sales, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, said. “This first-to-market capability sets the stage to empower access to the Disney portfolio, validated by powerful audience insights, in a way that’s automated and accessible.” ■

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.