LEXINGTON, Ky—In a notable advance in the way local broadcast TV stations can monetize their content, Viamedia.ai has announced that it is working with Hearst Television to enable true household-level addressability for broadcast television.
The partnership marks a fundamental shift in how broadcast television inventory can be activated and monetized, allowing advertisers to target specific households utilizing ad inventory of the most-watched linear video outlets in markets across the country.
“Local broadcast TV delivers unparalleled impact for advertisers within targeted markets and we’re adding to our toolkit the capabilities to target not just the whole of the market but specific households within markets,” said John Robertson, Hearst Television vice president, distribution. “As we evolve our business alongside our valued partners in the media-buying and distribution communities, it’s imperative that we use technology that makes our linear inventory even more efficient and impactful. Viamedia has delivered an effective tech solution that enables us and MVPD partners to deliver addressability across broadcast streams coupled with the advanced data, analytics and transparency marketers seek. The result is a holistic ad buy – a one-stop-shop encompassing linear and digital attributes.”
This development follows an extensive market test to enable targeted television advertising via dynamic ad insertion within streams using broadcast spectrum. The test, conducted over several months, involved Viamedia, Hearst Television station WLWT-TV and MediaKind (formerly Harmonic), whose advertising SaaS product provided technology enabling last-mile, household-level ad delivery.
The new tool provides a station like WLWT the ability to participate in previously unavailable markets which could drive a 25% increase in monetizable impressions.
Through Viamedia’s Parrot Ad Decisioning System (ADS) platform and Hearst Television’s architecture of a compatible broadcast technology infrastructure, advertisers gain access to precision targeting and flexible buying models initially on Hearst Television’s inventory in select markets.
Parrot ADS manages and monetizes advertising across linear, CTV, and programmatic environments. It helps broadcasters and MVPDs alike to unify ad delivery, extend campaigns across screens, and simplify reporting and monetization across the TV ecosystem.
As a result of the deployment, Hearst Television can now make select inventory available for dynamic, data-driven activation, meeting advertiser demand for heightened audience addressability and measurability. It also strengthens the already powerful advertising proposition of local TV advertising with added analytics and performance metrics.
“The TV viewing audience remains one of the most attractive scaled opportunities for advertisers to reach engaged consumers, even as the ecosystem grows increasingly fragmented,” said Evan Rutchik, president & chief strategy officer of Viamedia. “While CTV and FAST Channels are growing in popularity among advertisers, linear still accounts for a massive audience. By bringing true addressability to Hearst’s broadcast inventory, we move the market toward a model where broadcast delivers the same level of precision and accountability that advertisers expect from other channels, which can help create additional value for all parties – including broadcasters, MVPDs agencies, and brands. We are excited to work with Hearst Television to bring this inventory to market for advertisers who appreciate premium content and localized ad delivery.”
“TV, especially broadcast, offers great value to advertisers, and the ability to precisely target a specific audience dramatically increases the importance of the channel in media plans,” added Phil Sloan, senior vice president and managing director, Canvas. “Hearst Television, Viamedia and their partners have opened the door to making all of TV a performance-driven channel, meeting advertiser demand. We look forward to continuing to explore this for our clients’ campaigns as they look to raise awareness and measure outcomes.”
Viamedia’s approach operates across a three-part ecosystem: broadcaster inventory, distribution infrastructure, and the Parrot ADS technology layer. Together, these components allow broadcast spots to be delivered dynamically in addressable form within qualifying environments, supporting both local and national campaigns.
Viamedia uses artificial intelligence to unify a process that previously required advertisers to balance multiple vendors and data sources to reach audiences across a plethora of screens. The goal is to unlock faster execution for buyers, but also to open new monetization opportunities for MVPDs, video providers, and now also broadcasters.
Hearst Television is a Supporting Member of the Go Addressable trade organization whose mission is to further accelerate the advancement of addressable TV advertising.
