NEW YORK—In a notable example of how local TV stations are changing the way they sell local ads, the ABC Owned TV Stations have announced that they will use impressions-based selling and buying for local TV.
The shift to using impressions, which has long been the currency for digital sales, is an important shift away from using ratings as the basis for TV ad sales.
The move means that digital and TV can be sold on the same footing, making it easier to craft cross-platform buys.
In a statement on the adoption of impression-based selling and buying for local TV stations, Debra OConnell, president of networks at Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution at The Walt Disney Company noted: “Today, the ABC Owned Television Stations provide best in class content that serves our communities on a variety of video platforms, including linear, digital and OTT. Marketers with local strategies want to build multiplatform campaigns and need a common currency to do so effectively. Using an impressions-based currency to evaluate, sell and buy local broadcast video enables us to offer our advertisers full visibility into local audiences and extends the overall reach of their messaging across platforms. The ABC Owned Television Stations fully support the adoption of impressions as the currency for local broadcast TV.”
