Sinclair Partners With Operative Media to Change How Media Is Transacted

Sinclair Broadcast Group
(Image credit: Sinclair)

NEW YORK—Sinclair Broadcast Group has entered into a multi-year enterprise partnership with Operative Media to change how local and national media are transacted across digital and linear platforms, transitioning its inventory to a common impression-based currency, Sinclair announced.

The partnership enables Sinclair to consolidate all its sellable assets across platforms and markets into a single ad sales system, thereby creating a unified brand experience for customers and sellers, it said.

Sinclair will use Operative Media AOS, the company’s next generation ad sales management technology platform.

The impression-based model directly addresses the viewership fragmentation that’s made it difficult and time consuming for marketers to identify audiences at scale as well as buy and execute against them, Sinclair said.

“We already provide a unique opportunity for marketers to engage consumers of all kinds, and Operative’s technology will further consolidate and simplify our sales process,” said Rob Weisbord, president of Broadcast and chief advertising revenue officer of Sinclair.

“It will bring this concept to our markets in a way that is easily managed by our various sellers and the portfolios of inventory they represent. It will provide them flexibility to dynamically manage audience and spend allocations across Sinclair’s broad asset catalog,” he said.

The AOS platform automates workflows involving planning, order management, inventory management and stewardship and billing, which Sinclair expects to drive efficiency internally across its portfolio and externally with customers. The platform supports Sinclair’s Compulse 360 and ZypTV products and will provide the foundation for the broadcaster to integrate with other partners and technology companies, it said.

The partnership provides automated integrations with key buying systems that will shorten the time it takes to develop plans and deliver reports and invoices to customers. It will reduce discrepancies between buyers and sellers by passing all data electronically between the buy and sell systems. Yield tools will help deliver improved outcomes for both Sinclair and its customers by optimizing inventory use, delivery and make goods, it said.

“This is an opportunity to align our proven track record in the broadcast industry with Operative’s technological expertise to create a simple solution that we believe will change the way advertisers connect with consumers across all devices,” said Brian Bark, CIO of Sinclair. 

“This new platform will empower advertisers with the ability to optimize campaigns across Sinclair’s distinguished portfolio of content, while altering the way the industry does business—paving the way for other media companies in the process.”

More information is available on the Operative Media and Sinclair websites. 

Phil Kurz

Phil Kurz is a contributing editor to TV Tech. He has written about TV and video technology for more than 30 years and served as editor of three leading industry magazines. He earned a Bachelor of Journalism and a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism.