Comcast is in talks to acquire Visible World, a maker of targeted advertising systems and a player in the white-hot programmatic TV sector, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing unnamed sources.
Comcast and Visible World were not immediately available for comment, but the paper noted that a deal isn’t imminent and the discussions could instead lead to a deeper relationship between the two companies.
While an acquisition of Visible World would give Comcast direct access to key targeted/addressable advertising technologies aimed primarily at set-top boxes, the company’s AudienceXpress subsidiary is focused on programmatic TV systems that bring digital-like automation to the advertising sales process.
Visible World’s partners include Comcast, Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Suddenlink and Time Warner Cable, among others. Cox Media and Suddenlink are among the known customers of its AudienceXpress subsidiary.
Comcast Ventures is also one of the investors in privately held Visible World.
Comcast has already signaled its interest in owning Web-style advertising companies and technologies. Last year, the MSO acquired online advertising specialist FreeWheel, which just issued a report showing that TV Everywhere advertising jumped significantly in the fourth quarter of 2014.
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