Tribune, part of the media consortium behind Interpublic Group’s MAGNA GLOBAL, is being joined by other major television groups in a test a programmatic ad system developed by WideOrbit.
The service is called WO Central, and it will offer capabilities related to programmatic targeting and automated buying on both local and national levels.
The parties note that “…the new technology introduces the first-ever live environment for trading linear television station inventory across customized geographic areas ranging from specific DMA footprints to total US coverage.”
Also in on the test are Hearst, Meredith, Raycom, Scripps and Sinclair.
One way or another, WO has access to 99% of US households, including 70% of North American television stations, 15% of radio stations and more than 30% of cable networks.
“We strongly believe in using enhanced audience analytics to create customized and automated solutions for advertisers,” said Keith Bowen, Chief Revenue Officer for Tribune Media. “We look forward to working with Magna to get a much deeper understanding of our audiences and improve the ability of our clients to target opportunities across the 50 million households reached by Tribune Media’s broadcast stations.”
Added Eric R. Mathewson, Founder and CEO of WideOrbit, “Since its inception, WideOrbit has been committed to making it easier to buy and sell media. Accordingly, we are honored that MAGNA selected WideOrbit for this important strategic initiative. By providing a programmatic solution that allows agencies to perform targeted, data-driven, audience buys across markets, and delivers real-time analytics and audience insight for on-the-fly optimization, we’re creating a brand new revenue stream for our television station partners, while allowing them to control precisely what they choose to sell through our platform.”
