Canoe, the cable-backed advanced advertising venture, now has video-on-demand dynamic advertising insertion (DAI) deals in place with all major U.S. broadcasters following the recent addition of CBS.
CBS, which announced its VOD DAI plans earlier this month, has completed the on-boarding process and is already running “double-digit campaigns right out of the gate,” Chris Pizzurro, head of product, sales and marketing for Canoe, said. “They moved very quickly…in a matter of weeks,” he added.
The current deal is solely with the CBS broadcast network, though it could potentially be extended to CBS's cable properties as well, Pizzurro said.
All CBS shows available on VOD, including NCIS, The Crazy Ones, The Good Wife, and The Big Bang Theory are eligible for DAI in enabled markets. Ad Agereported that The Good Wife and The Big Bang Theory are the network’s two most popular shows offered on VOD. CBS is launching DAI ahead of its annual upfront meetings, and its involvement with Canoe “will definitely be part of those conversations," Jo Ann Ross, president of CBS Network Sales, told the publication recently.
CBS said the addition of DAI will expand its ability to monetize beyond the live+3 and live+7 day windows.
Pizzurro said CBS’s deployment reaches Canoe’s current 30 million-home footprint with Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Canoe intends to be up and running with its two other MVPD partners, Bright House Communications and Cox Communications, by the end of the year.
The CBS deal marks a major milestone for Canoe, the J.V. that dropped its interactive advertising efforts to focus squarely on dynamic VOD ad insertion as part of an overhaul in 2012, as it now has agreements with all major U.S. broadcasters, including ABC, Fox and NBC.
Last month, Canoe confirmed that it added AMC and A+E Networks to the crew, and that it had 30 networks running VOD ad campaigns, with more than 100 under agreement. Also on board are ABC Family, several NBCUniversal properties, Scripps Networks, and independent VOD programmer Sportskool, among others.
Pizzurro said at least two more yet-to-be-identified programmers have signed up and are in the process of completing their testing.
Earlier this year, Joe Covey, the CEO of Mag Rack, a VOD-only programmer, said he was evaluating whether to jump on board with Canoe.
