Bloomberg Media said it is working with Watchwith in launching its VidPlus service, which links video on Bloomberg terminals and Bloomberg.com with interactive editorial material and native content from advertising partners.
Watchwith already works with TV programmers to create in-program advertising overlays that are contextually relevant to the shows being watched without interrupting what the viewer is watching.
Bloomberg is bringing Watchwith’s TV work onto a digital platform. It takes time-based metadata to generate broadcast-quality overlays at relevant moments during business news streaming video. The overlays provide market facts, biographical information about speakers, social polling and other materials.
For advertisers, VidPlus creates opportunities to deliver in-program brand messages when viewers are likely to be interested.
“Partnering with Watchwith to create Bloomberg VidPlus allows us to deliver an interactive and data-driven viewing experience that provides value beyond the screen while driving deeper engagement,” said M. Scott Havens, global head of digital at Bloomberg Media. “Bringing Watchwith's technology to business news consumers, whose livelihoods are driven by high-quality data and information, as well as introducing highly engaging and innovative native advertising opportunities to our partners, is a natural fit.”
Zane Vella, CEO of Watchwith, said in-program advertising is becoming more important at a time when video programmers are looking to reduce commercial loads.
“This is in many ways the future of television,” Vella said. “It’s the production values of broadcast combined with the deep knowledge and understanding of what’s happening in the context at any moment.”
Vella noted that when the in-program material runs, whether its editorial content or native advertising, it doesn’t interrupt the programming being watched.
“This is the model for every newsroom in the country. It’s a way for them to take the editorial work they’re already doing and the audience they already have and move that in a way that is manageable into the digital domain in a native way,” he said.
And compared to 30-second spots, “we are consistently seeing that in-program inventory sells at similar rates to interstitial pre-roll ads,” Vella said.
Snapchat will be carrying Olympic content under an agreement with NBC Sports.
The content will be co-produced by NBC Olympics and BuzzFeed, one of the digital media companies in which NBCU has an equity investment.
Material from the U.S. Olympic Team Trials as well asthe 2016 games from Rio will appear as Live Stories on Snapchat. It will also be featured in a NBC Rio Olympic Channel on Snapchat Discover.
Related: NBC Has Pole Position in Strong Upfront, Says Burke
“We are thrilled to be working closely with Snapchat on extending the stories and excitement of the Rio Olympics to their large, dynamic, and socially active audience,” said Gary Zenkel, president, NBC Olympics. “And who better to partner with to produce content for that audience than BuzzFeed, perhaps the most creative producers in the social content space.”
NBC Olympics will lead the sales efforts across both Live Stories and Discover channel, working closely with the Snapchat sales team.
Related: NBCU Cash Flow Rose 10% in 1Q
The material will help promote NBC’s coverage of the Olympics on TV and in other digital media.
“Through this partnership with NBC Olympics, we’re able give our Snapchat community the opportunity to dive in and experience the world’s largest sporting event right on their phones,” said Ben Schwerin, director of partnerships at Snapchat. “We know Snapchatters will love being a part of the Live Story action and learning more about the Games while browsing the Discover channel.”
(Photo via GotCredit's Flickr. Image taken on May 3, 2016 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 3x4 aspect ratio.)
