NEW YORK—As audiences fragment across linear TV and streaming, Verizon Media is launching its Unified TV Report solution to help advertisers better understand the audiences they are reaching across multiple screens.  T

The Unified TV Report solution is designed to give advertisers a more complete view of their linear TV investment in relation to their digital buys across Verizon Media DSP. 

In the runup to the official launch, Verizon reported that over a dozen advertisers beta tested the Unified TV Report. 

On average, CTV advertisers saw double-digit incremental reach vs. linear TV (last 30 days), the company said. 

The Unified TV Report offers advertisers enhanced analytics capabilities to understand and optimize key outcomes in their cross-channel strategy, including the incremental reach achieved by their CTV and other digital media through Verizon Media as compared to their linear TV buy. 

It also provides overall frequency across linear and digital, as well as GRP (gross rating point) and cost per household metrics, which allow more comparable metrics between TV and digital campaign measurement, the company explained. 

In addition to granularity, the solution offers insights by combining Verizon Media ConnectID, a persistent identifier for the cookieless world, with data from TV partners VIZIO and Nielsen. 

That means advertisers can now leverage the amplified impact of Verizon’s consent-based identity graph with Inscape, VIZIO’s leading automated content recognition (ACR) data set of 19M+ Smart TVs, and Nielsen’s demographic expertise grounded in its trusted TV panel, the company reported. 

The Unified TV Report completes Verizon’s audience analytics suite of TV planning, activation, and reporting tools, including last year’s launch of the Cross Screen Planner, also in collaboration with Nielsen and now VIZIO. 

The suite of tools gives advertisers a more holistic approach to planning, activating and optimizing their overall TV investment on Verizon’s platform, as well as the opportunity to understand how it compares against other advertising channels, Verizon said. 

NEW YORK—A rising tide lifts all boats, as the expression goes, and the rise of streaming has not only been a boon for the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ and more, but also for ad-supported services (AVOD). AVODs have grown in popularity among consumers, according to a recent study by Verizon Media and Publicis.

In its “Capitalizing on the CTV Opportunity” report, Verizon and Publicis recognize that AVOD platforms are poised for growth amid all the subscriptions and option fatigue. The report notes that consumers have on average five streaming services, with 45% saying they are using too many services for content and 48% worrying about how much they’re spending for the services.

As a result, AVOD has gained in popularity among consumers, carving a niche in the streaming market with either cheaper versions of SVODs that still offer much of the same premium content or free versions that provide users with low-financial risk to use.

Seven out of 10 respondents said paid AVOD services were worth the prices, describing them as “affordable,” “a good value” and a “fair price.” Three in five also said that they would prefer if more streaming services offered cheaper, ad-supported subscription tiers.

Just under half (47%) of respondents said they are more interested in AVOD services than they were just a few years ago and would be willing to try it—83% said they’d try an AVOD version of their favorite service, while 82% would consider an AVOD version to save money.

That doesn’t mean that respondents would just accept whatever ads came their way. About a quarter (23%) of AVOD subscribers switched to a paid, ad-free version because of a bad ad experience. As for what can make a bad ad experience, respondents said overly long commercial breaks (60%), too many commercial breaks (60%) and repetitive ads (58%).

More information on Verizon Media and Publicis’ report is available online. 

NEW YORK—Verizon has agreed to terms with Apollo Global Management that will see Apollo acquire Verizon Media for $5 billion. Verizon Media consists of Yahoo, AOL and other ad tech and media platform businesses.

Per the deal, Verizon will retain 10% of the spun off company, which will be known as Yahoo. Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan will remain in his position.

“We are excited to be joining forces with Apollo,” said Gowrappan. “The past two quarters of double-digit growth have demonstrated our ability to transform our media ecosystem. With Apollo’s sector expertise and strategic insight, Yahoo will be well positioned to capitalize on market opportunities, media and transaction experience and continue to grow our full stack digital advertising platform. This transition will help to accelerate our growth for the long- term success of the company.”

Verizon Media has grown over the last two quarters by pushing new ad offerings, consumer ecommerce, subscriptions, betting and strategic partnerships. Yahoo is also popular among Gen Z, as Yahoo News was labeled as the fastest growing news organization on TikTok.

Under the agreement, Verizon will receive $4.25 billion in cash, preferred interests of $750 million and 10% stock in Verizon Media. The transaction includes all of Verizon Media’s brands and businesses.

Verizon estimates that the deal will close in the second half of 2021.

NEW YORK & IRVINE, Calif.—Vizio and Verizon Media are putting their heads together in an effort to push forward advanced TV advertising, announcing a strategic partnership that will aim to deliver new cross-platform and connected TV (CTV) advertising solutions, anchored in unique TV viewership data and premium programmatic inventory access.

Verizon Media now has demand-side platform (DSP) access to Vizio’s Inscape viewership data from more than 18 million opted-in Vizio Smart TVs. This will help enable expanded CTV targeting, optimization and measurement opportunities for Verizon Media’s DSP advertisers, independent of cookies.

Vizio remains the exclusive seller of its guaranteed inventory and data licensing, but this partnership makes Verizon Media its preferred supply-side platform (SSP) for programmatic ad monetization.

The deal is also designed to boost Vizio’s cross platform ad retargeting product, Household Connect. Vizio, through Verizon’s unified ad platform, will now be able to offer audience extension campaigns to its advertisers with Verizon’s omnichannel marketplace and diverse cross-device Identity Graph, matched with near real-time Inscape ACR data. This will allow advertisers to extend the reach and frequency of their Vizio CTV campaigns while also reinforcing brand messaging in an omnichannel manner, according to the official announcement.

“VIZIO has built a CTV advertising ecosystem centered around premium partnerships and our direct-to-device offering,” said Mike O’Donnell, chief revenue officer, Platform+ at VIZIO. “Our relationship with Verizon Media will enable us to expand our reach, bridge the gap between TV and mobile, and create more impactful and actionable premium advertising experiences across platforms.”

LAS VEGAS—Vuuzle.tv is an ad-supported streaming service providing live events alongside video-on-demand content consumers as a virtual, live, linear channel. One of our unique differentiators is taking live feeds from content creators and ingesting them into a sophisticated environment where personalized advertising is added directly to the stream before it reaches the end customer.

For us, as a service powered by programmatic advertising, maximizing ad fill rates is crucial. We required a watertight workflow that kept content streaming while ensuring the seamless delivery of a tailored, high-quality ad experience to each viewer. We needed a solution to drive and increase viewing sessions and help us stand out in the crowded AVOD market.

ONE UNIFIED PLATFORM

We chose to partner with Verizon Media as it offered all of the functionality we were looking for in one unified platform. We needed to manage live and VOD assets with ease and at scale from multiple studios across the world, and Verizon Media Platform enabled us to do this with confidence.

The Verizon Media Platform has become an integral component of Vuuzle’s robust, client-managed workflow. Local producers can now ingest high-quality video feeds via RTMP or other methods right from their production room Macbooks directly into the Verizon Media Platform no matter their location—all while managing ad-insertion locally.

Vuuzle.tv has broadcast hundreds of live events to a global audience, at super-fast speeds, with minimal latency thanks to the platform. We can now empower content partners to go live and direct to ad break seamlessly. With new enhancements, we can now help content partners self-manage and schedule content without involving centralized personnel in production post-setup. Local production can now manage show production and ad breaks in SSAI, enabling more effective monetization of live streams.

By using Verizon’s Managed Slicer Service and other unique tools, we can sidestep the traditional setup and management costs of connecting to studio setups located worldwide. Without needing to place and manage any on-premise equipment, we’re able to stand up new content providers at a much faster pace than before.

ENABLING INNOVATION

Verizon encourages its partners to be innovative and as a result, many of our creative ideas have become a reality as the Verizon Media team has been open to our vision and has the tools to make them happen.

We now have plans to further expand our partnership by leveraging the Verizon Media Platform to move broadcast production into the cloud and decentralize our live production workflow. These steps will further reduce costs and improve the flexibility for producers to control their feeds.

Prophecy Onasis is the CTO of Vuuzle Media Corp. He has been developing online business models for over 15 years such as native apps, content delivery networks and various content delivery platforms. Onasis has extensive knowledge in programmatic advertising and the full stack technology ecosystem monetizing short and long form video. He can be contacted at ponasis@vuuzlelive.com.

For more information, visit www.verizonmedia.com.

NEW YORK—Verizon Media has partnered with 24i, an application management and user experience organization, to make it easy for broadcasters and other content owners to prepare and deliver video-on-demand and live content via OTT (over the top) to a broad range of devices.

Writing in a Verizon Media blog post in mid-November, the company’s Principal Product Manager John Reigart, says the pair have “created a pre-integrated OTT solution” that “enables media organizations to quickly and easily build engaging experiences across all of the more popular OTT devices.”

That solution, Smart OTT, is a turnkey, “cross-screen” video application development platform that provides media companies with the tools to develop a user interface to their liking. With custom design options, it is possible to customize a UI across all platforms, Reigart writes.

The bevy of supported platforms ranges from TVs, mobile devices and browsers to media devices like Roku, game consoles and set-top boxes.

Reigart also discusses 24i’s Backstage SaaS content management system, which gives OTT operators a way to “enrich, organize and present their content within all applications.”

LOS ANGELES—Verizon Media has debuted a series of Media Platform enhancements that are designed to help the live streaming experience for live sports and other streaming content.

Part of these new updates is a partnership with Phenix Real Time Solutions, combining Verizon Media’s global network, edge computing and ad insertion knowledge with Phenix’s real-time streaming technology for sub-second latency for live sports at scale, assisting with multicamera viewing angles and “watch together” social experiences.

Verizon is also making available channel scheduling and syndication publishing, enabling media organizations to schedule and curate channels, which can then be syndicated to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Twitch.

Rounding out the new Media Platform enhancements is the Managed Slicer as a Service, a tool designed to assist with managing OTT linear channel contribution, acquisition and ingestion for broadcasters and content owners. Managed Slicers can accept IP or SDI video feeds and can be provisioned in a co-location data center, a Verizon point of presence or in the cloud. Once established, the linear channel feeds are fully monitored and maintained by Verizon Media.

Another recent announcement by Verizon Media designed to help with OTT was the launch of OTT Smart Auction.

For more information, visit www.verizonmedia.com.

NEW YORK—Verizon Media has announced the launch of OTT Smart Auction, a header bidding-like system for OTT publishers. OTT Smart Auction enables OTT programmatic demand to compete with reserved demand in a real-time, unified auction in a publisher’s ad server.

Verizon Media says it created OTT Smart Auction to meet the needs of premium OTT publishers that deliver longform on-demand and live streaming content through connected TVs or mobile apps.

Benefits that come from utilizing OTT Smart Auction, according to Verizon Media, include OTT Smart Auction passing information directly to the Verizon Media demand side platform; providing greater transparency into bidding data; the system is built to work with the Prebid Server; and can deliver ads on longform content with support for advanced ad podding, including competitive separation, ad deduplication and support for frequency capping.

OTT Smart Auction is also integrated with Verizon Media Platform’s Smartplay Prebid system. Smartplay Prebid is a server-side integration that exposes inventory directly to OTT Smart Auction and utilizes Smartplay’s server-side ad insertion capability to provide a transition between content and ads on any device or platform, says Verizon Media.

For more information, visit www.verizonmedia.com.  

NEW YORK—Verizon Media has introduced its new TV tune-in attribution product that allows broadcasters, networks and media companies to quantify the impact of digital ad campaigns on consumers tuning into TV shows. This marks the first time customers using Verizon Media’s DSP advanced advertising platform can attribute TV show tune-ins to ads served on any channel, including mobile, CTV, video, desktop, native and beyond. Verizon Media is launching the offering with Inscape, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VIZIO, for automatic content recognition (ACR) TV viewing data, with additional partnerships forthcoming.

“We are continuing to close the attribution gap across devices, channels and screens,” said Iván Markman, chief business officer, Verizon Media. “Our TV tune-in product helps advertisers better understand their customers, connecting the dots between ad-viewing on a smartphone, for example, with TV-viewing. That feedback loop drives better performance and outcomes, while providing insights into critical performance indicators like tune-in conversions.”

Verizon Media’s TV tune-in attribution correlates ad exposure and engagement across devices and screens to a user tuning into a program on their TV by matching ad behavior with near-real time ACR data from more than 15 million smart TVs. ACR data is opted-in by the consumer, capturing viewing preferences anonymously, while allowing TV and entertainment advertisers to perform closed-loop attribution of users that saw an ad then tuned in to the show.

“As the way we watch TV has changed, so has the marketer’s approach to measuring it,” said Markman. “Advertisers want to measure the impact of their media directly with more granular data. With our TV tune-in attribution, we are helping them better personalize and optimize marketing campaigns, understand ad exposures across key platforms and maximize business outcomes.”

Discovery is one of the first brands to use Verizon Media’s TV tune-in attribution product at launch, helping them identify the effects of non-TV inventory on TV-viewing and ensuring greater harmony across campaigns.

“Verizon Media’s TV tune-in product represents a critical advancement of platforms converging with highly relevant real-time data,” said Seth Goren, Group SVP, Media Strategy and Analytics at Discovery. “These kinds of infrastructure enhancements enable a whole new spectrum of thinking to drive optimization and ultimately improve a range of tune-in outcomes that matter deeply to our business.” 

Verizon Media’s omnichannel DSP delivers exclusive and unique access to premium mobile, video, desktop, native, CTV, addressable TV, audio and DOOH inventory.

WASHINGTON—NAB’s PILOT coalition has a new member with Verizon Media. Verizon Media, the media and online business division of Verizon Communications, now joins other companies, educators and advocates as part of the coalition’s effort to advance broadcast technologies and grow new media opportunities.

One of the key aspects of Verizon Media is its integrated digital media platform that prepares, delivers, displays and monetizes online content. The platform powers websites, apps and OTT video services.

“We’re delighted to have Verizon Media as a partner in driving innovation in broadcasting,” said John Clark, NAB PILOT executive director. “We look forward to collaborating and identifying opportunities to move the industry forward.”

For more information about NAB’s PILOT coalition, visit www.nabpilot.org. 

“Best of Show Up Close” is a series about the nominees and winners for the annual Future Best of Show at NAB award program.

TVT spoke with Ralf Jacob, president of the Verizon Media Platform, about their BoS-nominated product Smartplay platform.

TV Technology:Tells us about Smartplay; what does it offer users?

Ralf Jacob: Verizon Media’s Smartplay delivers highly personalized sessions via manifest manipulation with capabilities for content server-side ad insertion, digital rights management, content targeting and time control. The result is the more TV-like experience that today’s viewers demand from OTT. Using Smartplay, service providers can deliver entirely customized content, adapted for each consumer’s interests, completely automatically and in real-time without any additional overhead in editing or playout resources.

TVT:Can you provide some examples of how users have been implementing it?

RJ: Yahoo created a streaming channel powered by the Verizon Media Platform that went live on Roku in less than a month and as part of this project, Smartplay server-side ad insertion was used to create personalized viewing experiences and increase monetization.

TVT:What about Smartplay separates it from similar offerings?

RJ: OTT providers are realizing that viewers will soon expect truly personalized services to be the norm from any service provider. Consumers will expect media platforms to offer them the content they are most interested in, tailored for the specific device they are using and backed by relevant, useful advertising. Service providers that are unable to offer this will miss the opportunity to drive deeper audience engagement and will lose out on significant advertising revenues.

Smartplay has a number of unique features that help broadcasters retain viewers and boost revenues:

• Server-side Ad Insertion
  Smartplay features dynamic ad insertion, which delivers TV-like quality on OTT services by providing viewers with highly personalized adverts. Smartplay’s server-side technology encodes content and ads into a unified stream, guaranteeing TV-like quality while eliminating latency associated with fetching ads during breaks. Its singular stream also avoids ad blockers, allowing broadcasters to reach more viewers and maximize monetization opportunities.

• Content Targeting
  Smartplay makes it easier for broadcasters to have complete control over content distribution. Verizon Media’s session servers instantaneously connect with every viewer that hits “play,” verifying them against infinite rule combinations, so broadcasters can be certain that content is approved for delivery to each person.

• Time Control
  Smartplay has the capability to deliver content at low latency, often 40% closer to real time. Low latency ensures that viewers feel more engaged during live events, which helps build brand loyalty. Smartplay also offers a host of time-based controls, such as catch-up TV services, time zone shifting and the ability to segment content within each session without changing your workflow or managing different use cases.

• Stream Routing
  An advanced strategy for worldwide streaming, Stream Routing diversifies delivery options—adding capacity when and broadcasters need it—to ensure their content is available in times of super-peak traffic. Whether streams are broadcast live or VOD, Stream Routing enables faster startup times and reduces rebuffering to provide the best and most consistent viewing experience possible.

TVT:What does it cost? When will it be/is it available?

RJ: Smartplay is available now as just one of the premium suite of features available on the Verizon Media Platform.

TVT:What else should consumers know about Smartplay, or the Verizon Media Platform in general?

RJ: Consumers should know that the Verizon Media Platform is helping broadcasters deliver high-quality experiences by simplifying video workflows that scale globally on the world’s largest, most connected network. As a result of broadcasters using our network, consumers will be able to enjoy hyper-personalized, TV-like experiences on their OTT services. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been corrected to have the correct spelling of Ralf Jacob.