NEW YORK—Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Ad Sales has unveiled NEO and DemoDirect, two advertising solutions it said will provide clients with more effective and efficient tools to buy inventory across WBD’s portfolio.

NEO, set for launch this year, will provide buyers direct access to WBD’s entire premium video inventory across streaming, linear, free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) and syndication through one simplified and intuitive user interface.

WBD is partnering with FreeWheel and Magnite to develop NEO.

NEO for the first time will give buyers direct access to WBD’s entire ad inventory across all owned-and-operated properties, the company said, as well as distributed endpoints in the portfolio, streamlining the transaction process and capitalizing on deeper reporting and advanced insights.

“We’re excited to introduce NEO, a dynamic platform that redefines how partners can access our iconic content portfolio by ensuring the value of WBD’s supply—and the data behind it—flows directly to clients,” said Jill Steinhauser, group senior vice president, platform monetization and partnerships, at Warner Bros. Discovery. “With this unique tool, advertisers can maximize the full potential of their advertising spend, analyze data more clearly, and buy on their own terms to scale campaigns faster and smarter.”

WBD executives described NEO's key features as follows:

• Full Control: NEO puts the brand in charge, with an intuitive platform that customizes all aspects of a campaign including budgets, pacing and optimization goals in one simplified platform.
• Increased Transparency: Brands gain full visibility across every WBD screen in a comprehensive dashboard, paired with the ability to operate where and when their ads are running and backed by rich content-level data and robust performance insights.
• Comprehensive Activation: Advertisers will gain the ability to activate their own data while leveraging WBD’s enhanced first-party audience data, enabling smarter targeting, real-time video omnichannel reporting capabilities, measurement, and stronger ROI capabilities.

“FreeWheel has been a longtime, proud partner of Warner Bros. Discovery in their efforts to seamlessly connect advertisers with their desired audiences, including their new buying platform, NEO,” FreeWheel Executive Vice President and General Manager Mark McKee said. “By enabling direct access to WBD's premium video content, FreeWheel is helping them to streamline the ad buying process across all screens. This allows WBD to increase efficiency and transparency throughout the ad buying process, while making it simple for new advertisers to participate in the TV ecosystem.”

Added Magnite President Sean Buckley: "We’re excited to continue our longstanding partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery by supporting the deployment of NEO, which is revolutionizing automated transactions across their premium video inventory. At Magnite, we understand the industry’s growing need for smarter tools and greater operational efficiency. This represents yet another important step toward streamlining the advertising ecosystem and delivering the transparency, performance, and innovation that buyers expect in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape.”

WBD described the second product, DemoDirect, as an innovative linear advertising solution designed to simplify and streamline demographic-based buying across the programmer’s portfolio of premium networks. Created to reduce the complexity of traditional demo-based buying, DemoDirect offers advertisers a single, optimized path to reach key audiences with one plan, CPM and invoice.

“DemoDirect is crafted for how brands choose to buy today — streamlined, scalable, and simplified,” WBD Group Senior Vice President of Platform Monetization Allie Carr said. “We are excited to debut this dynamic tool that directly addresses the friction associated with linear buying, and creates a smarter, more unified path for our clients at Warner Bros. Discovery.”

WBD described the key features of DemoDirect as follows:

• Unified Scale: Brands can reach audiences across WBD’s linear catalog of entertainment networks in a single, seamless buy, consolidating their media strategy while maximizing exposure.
• Quality Content and Trusted Delivery: Campaigns are curated and aligned with WBD’s award-winning, brand-safe content to ensure messages are engaged with high-level audiences, directly managed and optimized by WBD’s best-in-class team of experts.
• Flexibility and Custom-Tailored Campaigns: Advertisers can leverage precision targeting capabilities with full support for Do Not Air (DNA) lists, preferred daypart mixes, frequency capping requirements and network group limits. ADUs are designed to reflect original eCPM goals, giving brands greater confidence in their campaign’s execution and delivery.
• Future Cross-Platform Extensions: Buyers can extend their demo-based strategies across digital inventory via StreamX, WBD’s flagship converged media product, ensuring optimal audience reach across both traditional linear and digital environments.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND—DM Digital, a U.K.-based television channel that also has a following in Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania, is going with a familiar source to upgrade its broadcast playout infrastructure, choosing PlayBox Technology’s Neo series.

DM Digital had previously utilized PlayBox’s AirBox as its core playout system but it recently upgraded to Neo system, citing faster throughput, versatile channel branding and onboard transcoding capabilities as reasons for making the switch, per the official press release. The upgrade will consist of two AirBox Neo and TitleBox Neo servers with multiple HD output and live video inputs, plus two CaptureBox Neo ingest servers and ListBoxes.

AirBox Neo is a server-based broadcast playout system that allows 24/7 unattended operation, according to PlayBox. The TitleBox Neo is an optional module of the AirBox Neo and provides control during on-air sessions, including text selection, running speed and transitions. The ListBox is an AirBox plug-in for the creation and editing of schedules ahead of transmission. CaptureBox Neo, meanwhile, is an ingest server that allows HD or SD content from up to four video sources simultaneously.

LONDON—PlayBox Technology has gone with the old adage of killing two birds with one stone, announcing updates to both its Neo series and CloudAir broadcast playout systems.

The server-based Neo series of products is designed for providing a complete on-site playout system and includes the AirBox Neo, TitleBox Neo, CaptureBox Neo, ProductionAirBox Neo, and SafeBox Neo.

The AirBox Neo update provides the single server system with streaming input compatibility with HTTP(S), UDP, RTMP, MMS(H) and YouTube, plus streaming output support for UDP, RTSP and ATSC.

The TitleBox graphics and character generator gains the ability to accept and export database and spreadsheet content, as well as support of NewTek Tricaster NDI protocol and an API plug-in for Blackmagic Design DeckLink cards.

The multichannel ingest server CaptureBox Neo has added the same new streaming input capabilities as TitleBox and can now support HEVC file format and direct ingest from Sony’s XAVC 4K recording format.

Updates to the ProductionAirBox Neo media manipulation and delivery system include enhanced playlist performance, faster operational response, enhanced audio quality, audio media trimming, XKeys control compatibility, NDI protocol compatibility, and support for 4K 50p, 59.94p and 60p.

Lastly, SafeBox Neo replicates remote content to local playout server folders for safe transmission and can now handle multiple instances, subtitle copying and additional media file copying.

The cloud-based Software-as-a-Service CloudAir system’s updates include a new transcoder capable of handling multiple file containers and formats, including MPEG PS/TS, MXF, QT, AVI, MP4, GXF, MPG2, H.264, ProRes, DNX HD and MJPEG. Additional updates are an enhanced graphics editor template preparation interface, improved playlist editing, advanced playlist export to electronic program guides, and automated linking of sorted assets.

PlayBox has also updated its Multi Backup Manager for backing up multiple playout channels simultaneously with a GPI alarm plug-in and router control for the Grass Valley NV9000.