Operative said it is launching an initiative designed to merge its linear and digital ad sales software, making it easier for its television network, TV station and MVPD clients to sell campaigns that reach target audiences regardless of screen.
Comcast’s Freewheel and NBCU units have signed on the initiative, which Operative calls Premium at Scale.
The effort is designed to help TV compete as a platform more effectively with digital giants such as Facebook and Google.
Lorne Brown, CEO of operative said that clients are asking for a “one sales system, one ad decisioning system” that executes digital and linear advertising campaigns.
“Premium at Scale is an industry initiative intended to deliver an answer to advertiser demand for audience-based advertising across channels and empower media companies to create massive multichannel marketplaces that delivers a premium product Facebook and Google simply can’t match,” Brown said.
Operative is encouraging conversation between other programmers and distributors to ensure a coordinated outcome that benefits premium media companies as they launch similar initiatives.
“This partnership will close the gap between linear and digital, enabling FreeWheel and Operative to better support joint clients through improved system interoperability,” said James Rooke, GM, FreeWheel Publishers. Freewheel now has systems that deal with digital and linear advertising inventory.
“FreeWheel’s ability to extend its decisioning capabilities into linear television is an important step in enabling true unified management of advertising. We’re excited to partner with Operative to make this a reality with our joint industry clients,” Rooke said.
Operative also announced it has set up a User Council for media companies including NBCUniversal in order to advance the Premium at Scale initiative.
