cfx_september-2024 - 22

DISH
MEdia
Becomes Ad Tech Unifier
By E.B. Moss
" We Try Harder " was an ad tagline made
famous in the heyday of linear TV advertising,
which positioned being No. 2 in the
market as a value for the customer. Today,
linear and digital are in a battle for ad dollars:
in fact, each platform has unique advantages.
So, what if you could dish up the
best of both worlds, offering a programmatic
way to buy linear and streaming premium
video inventory from one company
that tries harder?
That's exactly what DISH Media has
accomplished with their innovative DISH
Connected technology. The team figured
out how to overcome the constraints of
satellite delivery mechanisms that prevented
Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI). After
years in the making, they have seamlessly
integrated satellite and digital inventories-revolutionizing
the entire ecosystem
of television advertising by harnessing the
power of internet connectivity in set-top
boxes and enabling true DAI. This means
a unified platform for programmatic advertising
at scale. And by scale it means
Dish Media has expanded their addressable
Connected TV audience by some additional
2B (yes, Billion) ad avails.
" We wanted to be able to exploit our
current inventory on the linear side, and
basically have more opportunities to target
customers, " DISH EVP/Group President of
Video Services Gary Schanman explains.
The goal of creating DISH Connected and
transforming linear television advertising
into a digital-like experience was a good
idea but required significant technical innovation.
" It took a rework of a lot of the
code and player technology, " Schanman
reveals. " And anyone that works with traditional
set-top boxes knows that it's just
not easy. In a lot of cases, you don't even
want to touch it. "
But DISH's engineering team rose to the
challenge, creating a first in the industry
system to enable programmatic buying of
linear TV inventory in real-time.
22
s
aa
DISH Connected now runs approximately
three million daily ad avails, paving
the way to elevate this figure to an
impressive two billion avails in the
programmatic marketplace.
Networks permeable by the DISH Connected
technology include ESPN, Fox Business,
Bravo, AMC and National Geographic.
Next, it was up to the sales and marketing
teams to explain and evangelize the
feat of engineering. A key concern when
bringing linear TV into the programmatic
advertising model is whether the same
execution and measurement standards
can apply. However, Schanman confirmed
that DISH Media's new platform allows advertisers
to leverage the same tools and
metrics used for digital campaigns today.
" It follows the existing programmatic sales
and measurement processes, " he says.
The client experience remains similar as
well. Again " trying harder " via dedicated
sales teams to help agencies and brands
understand how to engage with both
open market and direct programmatic
buys of DISH's linear television inventory.
Schanman praises the company's focus
on consultative sales and programmatic
guidance: " I've always been impressed
with DISH Media, even before I joined a
couple of years ago. It's a pretty dynamic,
advanced thinking group, " adding that
companies that sell one way or the other
September 2024
often don't have the 'bones' and both linear
and digital experience, like DISH offers
between its satellite, Sling TV and FAST
services.
For advertisers, DISH Connected opens
up new possibilities for targeted, efficient
campaigns. " Now the number of programmatic
avails in our universe are going to go
up threefold, " Schanman enthuses, " from
Sling's 1.2 billion ad avails to literally an
additional 2 billion advertising avails that
could be available through programmatic
purchasing, coming from the linear side,
to be able to target audiences where they
never were able to before. "
Schanman's goal moving forward is
to continue improving the experience for
customers, increasing engagement and
ensuring the advertising experience is a
positive one. So, while DISH Connected is a
significant achievement, the company isn't
resting on its laurels. " We're going to be
launching pause ads on DVR, and things
like that. So we're always innovating, " he
shares.
CablefaxTopOps.com
F
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AD TECH INNOVATOR
http://www.CablefaxTopOps.com
cfx_september-2024

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