A number of US media and technology companies have teamed up with smart-television company Vizio to form a consortium to develop technical standards to support the delivery of tailored advertising to households, potentially increasing the value of sports media rights.
Disney’s Media Networks (ABC, ESPN and Freeform), Comcast’s FreeWheel and NBCUniversal, Discovery, CBS, Xandr, Turner, Hearst Television and AMC Networks will form part of the venture.
The ‘Project OAR’ initiative will seek to define technical standards for TV programmers and platforms and deliver more relevant advertising experiences within linear and on-demand formats on smart TVs.
The initiative will provide ad-inventory owners with the technical means to monetise every TV impression through segment-based audience targets and addressable insertion.
OAR will allow media companies to deliver adverts that are relevant to the household, which the consortium hopes will improve the linear viewing experience for consumers.
Vizio has pledged that once the standard is developed it will be deployed on its opt-in footprint of connected TVs, although the protocol will be open and designed to enable any internet-connected TV maker and connected-device company to leverage it.
The technology will be developed by Inscape, the TV ACR data company owned by Vizio. The consortium aims to have a working product to showcase this spring, with full deployment targeted for early 2020.