NBCUniversal Teams With Charter In Major Expansion Of Addressable Ad Footprint

NBCUniversal is expanding the number of households reachable with addressable advertising — a newer form of brand messages based on metrics beyond traditional demos — by 40% through a new deal with Charter Communications.

The media company will now be able to serve addressable ads to 45 million households, which it says makes it one of the largest potential customer pools reachable through a TV ad system. The Spectrum-branded pay-TV and broadband platforms operated by Charter, the no. 2 cable provider in the U.S., will be accessible by NBCU for selling addressable campaigns on their own inventory. The deal will begin with Spectrum VOD platforms during the current quarter of 2021.

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Addressable advertising, which has been buzzed about in TV and ad business circles over the past decade, has grown slowly for a number of reasons, from industry politics to technology infrastructure. Streaming has supercharged the concept, and NBCU is particularly focused on unlocking the potential of digital advertising on its new streaming platform, Peacock. Champions of advanced ads see them as an antidote to the “spray-and-pray” approach of traditional TV advertising. Instead of relying only on traditional Nielsen demographics, advertisers, programmers and TV operators can serve ads to particular consumers based on geography, purchasing history or a host of other data points.

“Viewing habits have been evolving for some time now, and continue to accelerate towards on-demand and streaming platforms. Advertisers need to meet viewers in the moment, and that’s why NBCUniversal has been laser-focused on expanding our addressable capabilities,” said Krishan Bhatia, President & Chief Business Officer, Global Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal​​​​​​​. “Through our partnership with Charter Communications, we are taking an important step forward by delivering targeted advertising to millions of Spectrum viewers who are watching video on demand. This will enable us to continue to connect our viewers to the brands they know and love, at any time of the day.”

NBCU has been offering advanced targeting solutions to client and agency partners through its AdSmart platform since 2015.

“We look forward to working with NBCUniversal to help them expand their addressable offerings, and send more relevant advertisements at scale, to Spectrum customers,” said David Kline, EVP at Charter Communications, and President of Spectrum Reach. “This partnership will provide NBCU an opportunity to make their networks more impactful to advertisers, while also furthering our goal to bring scale and accessibility to addressable TV.”

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