Traditionally, the TV buying and selling process has involved countless non-automatic and manual interactions. A process that, while long-established, has become a little too drawn out for all of our current technological capabilities. Cue Programmatic TV.
Traditionally, the TV buying and selling process has involved countless non-automatic and manual interactions. A process that, while long-established, has become a little too drawn out for all of our current technological capabilities. Cue Programmatic TV.
While still in its infancy, PTV presents a wide array of possibilities for more enriched and advanced data potentials.
According to a recent Media Post article, PTV in 2016 demonstrated an increase in advancements in addressable data while also drawing attention to the confines of scalability.
PTV mandates the use of programmatic technology to reach a specific subgroup of customers, as opposed to relying on reaching a general demographic on highly rated channels or TV shows. Because of this, the use of highly reliable and advanced data has become a fundamental element in the PTV process; however, the need for such advanced-data calls for extreme acuity when it comes to utilizing and applying it to our campaigns.
Due to these increasing demands for advanced data, networks like Turner, NBC Universal, Viacom, ABC, and FOX have begun yielding to requests for data-driven buys by escalating the advanced-data they offer. This, however, doesn’t patch up the fact that these networks don’t provide enough inventory for advertisers to buy on a larger scale. For those seeking to run national campaigns, the limitations set by the amount of inventory available through PTV curbs their scale and reach. Even though some platforms do offer capabilities for sophisticated audience data targeting, they still fall short when it comes to offering inventory and scalability for scheduled campaigns through a DSP.
Yet, PTV is still in its experimental stages, so once enough technological advancements are made on both the supply and demand sides, a lot more inventory should become available, mentions Barry Lowenthal, president of The Media Kitchen.
Tom Wright, head of programmatic at Tomorrow TTH, predicts that 2017 holds a lot of potential when it comes to traditional media channels jumping on the programmatic bandwagon. Oftentimes digital programmatic is handled in seclusion, but we need to shift that focus and embrace the fact that this channel will have an inevitable impression on all other traditional media channels, a phenomenon Wright referred to as the “halo effect.” Digital programmatic has already laid the groundwork for these other media formats to become programmatic-ready, so the ball is already rolling.
While PTV still has a long way to go, 2016 spoke to the progression of integrating channels like these into a more programmatic and audience based approach. As for 2017, it’s going to be a year bursting with even more innovation and exploration.
