DataXu’s Catanzaro’s on the Three Flavors Of Programmatic TV

There is much talk in the industry about whether so-called “programmatic” technologies, which are revolutionizing internet display and video advertising, will come to ye olde TV any time soon.

Despite many hurdles in the way, one ad-tech vendor says the prospect is already “very real”.

“The market today is $700m and is going to grow to $4.bn by 2018,” says DataXu founder and SVP Sandro Catanzaro in this video interview with Beet.TV, referring to a June eMarketer forecast, which forecasts programmatically-traded ads growing from just 1% of US TV ads this year to 6% by that year.

So what is programmatic TV? Specifically, Catazano says DataXu is working with three platform variants of the technology:

  1. Connected TV, with “accurate and granular targeting” and almost “immediate reporting”.
  2. Addressable TV, in which audiences are reached through partners like Cablevision, DirecTV, DISH, Comcast and Sky by swapping a standard ad for one that is targeted.
  3. Programmatic linear TV, in which audiences can be found using data and technology to uncover propensity of individual viewers to be watching different TV shows.

Boston-based DataXu recently made a number of appointments to oversee onmni-channel, south-east Asia sales and its own finances, following a $10m investment from UK satellite pay-TV operator Sky.

The company offers marketers and their agencies automated media buying, optimization, reporting and data management across devices, and a year ago was named the strongest “total advertiser solution” in a Forrester Wave report.