OpenAP, the advanced advertising company owned by Fox, NBCUniversal and Viacom, said it launched a marketplace that offers advertisers premium video inventory that can be bought using audiences based on data.
The latest version of OpenAP includes digital video, giving it a large addressable footprint.
OpenAP was created in 2017 as a consortium by Fox, Viacom and Time Warner’s Turner unit. Comcast’s NBCU later joined the consortium.
After AT&T acquired Time Warner, it pulled Turner out of OpenAP in order to concentrate its advanced advertising efforts with its own Xander unit.
OpenAP said it launched its marketplace as a beta program in September and that it became available to all advertisers on Oct. 1.
Related: OpenAP to Use dataxu for Audience Segments
“Two years ago, OpenAP was founded on the thesis that the only way for advanced advertising to truly scale was for TV networks to come together and collaborate to create new standards that would push our industry forward,” said David Levy, CEO of OpenAP.
“Because of the partnership and investment made by Fox, NBCUniversal and Viacom, this launch marks a significant milestone that we believe will fundamentally change the way TV advertising is bought and sold,” Levy said. “ The OpenAP Market helps solve a critical need for advertisers, and I’m incredibly proud that we have delivered on our promise of bringing new buying power in time for fall campaigns.”
Buyers can connect to the OpenAP Market through agency planning systems and certain demand-side platforms via APIs.
The market allows advertisers to create audiences, define their goals and increase reach, OpenAP said. Buyer will receive a consolidated, optimized linear media plan, and optimized media plans for digital. OpenAP said it can provide pre- and post-campaign analytics for strategic budget allocations.
“The new OpenAP Market enhances the ability for Merkle to help brands execute person-based marketing campaigns for both linear and digital, said A.J. Kinter, VP of media and publisher solutions at Merkle, a marketing agency. “We believe that with these expanded capabilities it will help clients easily and efficiently create guaranteed TV plans against their audiences.”
