HUNT VALLEY, MD.—Sinclair has made a strategic investment in IRCODE, a company specializing in computer vision and AI aimed at making television interactive and shoppable.

Sinclair will also roll out IRCODE-powered interactive television through IRCODE Lens at its Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas, stations in July. Stations in other markets will follow throughout the year.

“Television has always delivered the audience. What it could not deliver was the proof of what happened next. IRCODE changes that,” said IRCODE CEO Matty Beckerman. “We give broadcasters and their advertisers the infrastructure to make every moment on screen interactive, measurable and connected to a real outcome. At Sinclair's scale, this is a new foundation for how television drives business results and how viewers connect with what they watch.”

IRCODE Lens is a 24/7 real-time interactive channel that lets viewers engage directly with what they see on screen to buy, win, connect and explore. The interactive TV solution is a white-label engagement and attribution layer that turns any piece of content or advertising into a measurable consumer touchpoint. IRCODE Lens runs entirely inside the broadcaster's existing apps, so every engagement and conversion stays first-party and owned by the station and advertiser.

The rollout will allow the stations to make interactive television a native capability inside their own platforms, giving brands and audiences a direct path to the products and experiences on screen.

IRCODE's real-time image recognition works like Shazam for images. It identifies what is on screen instantly without QR codes and connects the viewer to relevant content and commerce in the moment. The same technology is used today in 52 countries to recognize broadcast and on-screen content in real time at frame-level accuracy. The technology is format agnostic and built to create a frictionless customer journey from ads to premium content live sports and news.

To use IRCODE Lens, viewers in Salt Lake City or Austin will open their Sinclair station app, point their phone at the TV screen and move directly from what they are watching to the product or experience behind it. Because the interaction happens inside the station’s own app, the audience is identified and opted in, and every step of the journey from first scan to conversion is captured as first-party data.

For brands, interactive television closes the distance between awareness and action. An advertiser running a spot in Salt Lake City or Austin will be able to measure who engaged, what they did next and whether it led to a purchase with the same precision expected from a digital campaign. Engagement, conversion and return on investment become visible at the campaign level, and the data that proves it stays first-party to the ecosystem.

“Using their cell phone cameras and our app, viewers can participate in real time polls, comment on local news and interact with our advertisers. IRCODE is a powerful technology that provides an easy-to-use interactive experience that adds enormous value to our content. Now, we can plan on integrating user experience into our traditional over the air broadcasts,” said Del Parks, president of technology at Sinclair.

More information is available on the IRCODE and Sinclair websites.

NEW YORK—Samsung Ads has announced that its interactive ad format Samsung GameBreaks is now available programmatically, giving buyers access to fully customizable, co-branded interactive games within premium CTV inventory on Samsung TV Plus.

“In a world of endless content and increased competition for attention, advertisers need experiences that don’t just get noticed, they get played. Samsung is rewriting the rules of programmatic advertising with GameBreaks,” said Justin Evans, head of innovation and insights at Samsung Ads. “Through this expansion, we are continuing to deliver first-class ad experiences at scale. Our formats offer the flexibility our partners demand with a seamless and fast execution, pushing brands into user-forward ad experiences that consumers love and engage with.”

GameBreaks, which was launched earlier this year, is designed to turn a passive ad break into an interactive, gamified experience with bite-sized mini-games that viewers can play with their TV remote. Each GameBreak appears in the first ad pod within premium, brand-safe content on Samsung TV Plus.

Samsung also announced a successful campaign with the food media brand, Tastemade with GameBreaks. When paired with additional native and Samsung TV Plus media, the campaign reached 14.4 million unique U.S. households, the company reported.

In addition, Samsung Ads announced that it is launching two new game formats to the growing GameBreaks portfolio, bringing the total to seven turnkey formats designed to transform passive commercial breaks into memorable brand engagement moments. These new games, Crosslink and Mix It Up, offer even more creative flexibility:

• Crosslink challenges players to rapidly combine compound words against the clock, ideal for brand messaging tied to speed, efficiency, or discovery.
• Mix It Up is a visually dynamic, bespoke shell game-style challenge that lets viewers track hidden objects, creating playful brand engagement that drives recall and click-through.

“At Samsung, we’re always pushing the boundaries of what ad experiences can be. GameBreaks is revolutionizing the marketing world and re-engaging viewers by creating meaningful connections and tapping into people’s natural inclination to play,” added Avner Ronen, vice president of product development at Samsung Electronics. “We’re giving advertisers real-time, lean-in experiences that drive measurable performance. And we’re doing it with scale, speed, and simplicity, unlocking the next era of interactive TV advertising.”

NEW YORK—Samsung Ads has debuted a new interactive advertising format, Creative Canvas, that helps automate and deliver interactive ads.

That makes Samsung Electronics the first television manufacturer to offer advertisers a comprehensive interactive suite of solutions to deliver interactive ad experiences and to measure their impact in real-time, the company reported.

The interactive ad solution is now available for advertisers in both the U.S. and Canada with a new creative suite that includes QR enabled ads and vertical video. Samsung said it has plans for SMS, Email, and Store Locator functionality in the future.

In announcing the launch, Samsung Ads said it has already started to work with top brands across quick-service restaurants (QSR), retail, automotive, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and more to deliver premium, cost-efficient ads that create value for consumers eager for discovery during commercial breaks.

“Interactive ads are an important way to create meaningful, immersive experiences that empower consumers to easily engage with brands just as deeply as they do with content,” said Michael Scott, vice president & head of ad sales and operations at Samsung Ads. “As actionable video formats take shape within the CTV space, Creative Canvas offers our advertising partners a frictionless, one-stop-shop for memorable and dynamic ads.”

Samsung reported that with Creative Canvas, advertisers can seamlessly develop actionable ads through one turnkey solution. By simply submitting video creative with a brand logo and short CTA, in less than one minute, Samsung Ads’ cutting-edge Creative Canvas toolset can build custom-branded creative including a QR code.

Creative Canvas provides a unique opportunity for advertisers to run their social video content on the largest screen in the home – with the same level of engagement, measurement, and click-to-action received on smaller personal devices, the company explained.

It is an ideal solution for brands seeking to expand distribution of social media video assets. It gives brands the flexibility to include eye-catching vertical videos, allowing extended audience reach of their most viral content for greater return on creative investment, Samsung said.

Samsung Ads' enhanced advanced measurement tools and data-rich CTV ecosystem provide in-depth reporting on campaign performance and impact, including metrics like delivery, video views, engagement rates, clicks, and scans that powerfully deliver competitive campaign performance metrics.

For more information about Samsung Ads, visit: Samsung Ads.

NEW YORK—BrightLine, a provider of interactive, and shoppable CTV ads, and the ad tech platform TripleLift have announced that they have planning to offer premium interactive CTV ad inventory through multi-publisher and PMP deals.

The two companies said that the effort will allow advertisers and agencies to easily launch interactive campaigns across top-tier publishers.

“As we advance programmatic delivery of interactive formats, partnering with TripleLift was a natural choice, given their proven success in programmatically selling high-impact creative across web and mobile,” said Rob Aksman, president of BrightLine. “Their strong focus on expanding into CTV programmatic was particularly compelling to us.”

BrightLine and TripleLift said the marketplace for interactive CTV advertising will improve how interactive CTV messaging is delivered. It will offer advertisers access to inventory ranging from FAST channels to premium live sports across streamers that are BrightLine-enabled, such as The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, FuboTV, Sling, Vizio WatchFree+, and many more. This curated approach ensures advertisers can run consistent, engaging campaigns across multiple platforms at once with the same high-quality interactive ad formats, the companies reported.

That means advertisers and agencies will be able to access BrightLine’s interactive ad formats, from trivia and polls to shoppable overlays, to create campaigns tailored to CTV audiences across various platforms.

“BrightLine is the ideal partner as TripleLift continues to scale high-impact CTV ad experiences and grow our creative CTV offering,” said Andrew King, General Manager, CTV, TripleLift. “With premium curated inventory and innovative interactive formats, we’re empowering advertisers to unlock scale and drive meaningful engagement in a new and simplified way.”

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Dish Media has launched Pause Ads, a new ad format that shows interactive, customized ads when viewers pause live or on-demand content.

“We are always looking to provide advertisers with the most effective, full-funnel ad solutions," said Tom Fochetta, senior vice president, Dish Media. “Pause Ads introduce an additional opportunity for advertisers to lean into our first-party data and Sling TV’s robust targeting capabilities to create highly compelling and interactive ad experiences.” 

In making the announcement Dish Media noted that Sling TV reaches millions of monthly viewers, including cord-cutters and a younger demographic who may not be reached through traditional linear TV. According to a recent iSpot.tv campaign measurement report, 85% of households reached by Sling TV were not exposed to a traditional linear TV campaign. 

Pause Ads provide a new avenue for advertisers to connect with this valuable and often elusive audience, Dish reported.

The launch means that advertisers can, for example, add a QR code to Pause Ads to provide a direct pathway for viewers to interact with the advertised products or service. With this e-commerce component viewers can quickly learn more about a product, view pricing details, and make purchases with just a simple scan. These ads load 10 seconds after a viewer-initiated pause and disappear when content is resumed, ensuring a seamless and non-intrusive viewing experience, Dish said. 

This announcement complements Dish Media’s ongoing partnership with BrightLine, which introduced interactive ad units on Sling TV that can engage audiences with scrollers, games, QR codes, and tailored content based on viewer location. The latest addition of Pause Ads further expands Dish Media’s innovative ad offerings, providing even more dynamic and effective solutions for advertisers to connect with audiences and drive action, the company reported.

SAN FRANCISCO--Connekt, a Bay Area developer of AI technology, has partnered with Verance, an ATSC 3.0 Next Gen TV platform company, to develop the standard for interactive advertising formats to be delivered over ATSC 3.0.

Their stated goal is to provide an end-to-end solution for networks, content owners and programmers to build and deliver a next-generation, onscreen experience with enhanced engagement and interactivity over ATSC 3.0, provide an easy ATSC 3.0 transition for networks, and open up new revenue streams and consumer experiences on television.

Leveraging Verance Aspect watermark technology, Connekt will be able to deliver enhanced ads across all devices and distribution paths, including ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 Over-the-Air (OTA), Over-the-Top (OTT) and Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPD), such as cable, satellite and telco services.

“As TV revenue models shift, Connekt provides technical solutions, tools and applications to allow networks, content owners and advertisers to retain and grow new revenue streams,” said Mike Fitzsimmons, CEO of Connekt. “We are paving the way for the future of broadcast TV advertising, and Verance is the ideal partner for this collaboration.”

[Read: LG Completes Smart TV Tests Of Verance Watermarking Tech]

In November 2017, the FCC voted to allow the rollout of ATSC 3.0, which uses both OTA signals and in-home broadband to deliver video on demand, interactive services, 4K video, advanced emergency alerts, and other dynamic broadcast capabilities. 

“ATSC 3.0 will allow us to bridge the consumer experience gap between linear and IP delivered TV content,” said Eric Anderson, Verance’s chief partnership officer. “At the same time, Verance Aspect offers programmers, agencies and brands an open market, open standards-based platform to ensure scalability and ROI for Next Gen TV experiences and enhanced advertising. We’re looking forward to working with Connekt to create and drive these compelling consumer experiences.”

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.

INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.—It’s all right there in the numbers. From the key to interactive advertising to creating responsive content. It’s in the data, Steve Wong of Siemens and media technology consultant, Christy King, said Wednesday at the HPA Technology Retreat.

Wong talked about the necessity of having the proper metadata for interactive advertising. He said there is now “an opportunity then to license metadata rights. Think of the opportunity to negotiate now with another revenue stream.”

King, who collected and interpreted data for the UFC, spoke to specific applications. She said she is working with companies introducing new content for over-the-top Internet delivery.

“We’re starting to see people looking at data around titles that already exist, and what opportunities they present,” she said.

When King says “data,” she means everything, not just the shoot date and the technology used, but information about the content within the content. E.g., the city in which action is taking place, an actor’s nationality, their brand of clothing, the time of day in a scene, the items in the scene, the age of the characters and their emotions.

On the audience side of the screen, a company by the name of “Canvs” gleaned social media and identified 4 million terms that define emotions, King said. They narrowed it down to a lexicon and created a timeline bar chart of “reactions” so clients could determine how people are responding emotionally to content based on their social media posts.

King also pointed out that genres aren’t simple anymore. She said Netflix recognizes a multitude of “discrete” genres.

“Horror with 14 knives only shot at night is a genre,” she said.

There are 597 genres that include the term, “about marriage.”

One issue here is “scope creep,” where you’re just collecting and looking at too much stuff, King said. There need to be best practices and possible a data chief to mine data and deliver the results to creative so they can, in turn, respond to audience appeal.