Television Ad Bureau’s ePort Orders Break $200 Million

NEW YORK: ePort, the online ad marketplace for TV stations, has generated orders exceeding $200 million, according to the Television Advertising Bureau, which helped launch the initiative. TVB said in the last year, more than 20,000 orders had been made by 95 agencies and advertisers, via ePort, to 844 TV stations.

TVB, along with the National Association of Broadcasters, launched ePort a little more than a year ago to allow media buyers to shop for TV station Web site avails on a single platform. The free Web-based service enables buyers to assemble, transmit, and monitor orders and revisions, and get make-good offers, all electronically--no faxes, e-mails, and paper transactions.

ePort functions continue to be tweaked. Make-goods can now be revised and resent; current order statuses can be viewed; and compatibility with third-party media buying systems has been improved.

Agencies using ePort include Starcom/Mediavest, US International, KSL Media, Southwest Media, Walch Media, Horizon, Marcus Thomas and others. ePort is said to have reduced discrepancies by about 50 percent for Horizon, which intends to expand its use of the system in its New York and Los Angeles operations. ­­-- Deborah D. McAdams