Working toward paperless advertising transactions, the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) announced a multimillion-dollar digital platform called TVB ePort. The service aims to link marketers with broadcasters electronically via “open-standards” technology.
With partial funding from the National Association of Broadcasters, TVB aims to facilitate ad sales, whether they’re for television, the Web or mobile devices. The service, to debut in the fourth quarter of 2007, is of no charge to customers, who the TVB says will be able to buy and sell ads and send and pay invoices through it. Startup costs for ePort run an estimated $5 million.
“Today’s breakthrough is vital to managing multiplatform business,” commented TVB President Chris Rohrs.
Rohrs was joined by, among others, Meredith Broadcasting President Paul Karpowicz, who heads up the TVB board. “We think we have the full support of broadcasters across the country,” he said.
The TVB believes ePort will lead to faster transactions with fewer mistakes. Said Executive VP Abby Auerbach, “Providing open-standards connectivity is about eliminating time-consuming and error-prone re-keying in the selling/buying process.”
