Is live or on-demand TV a bigger opportunity for advanced ad targeting technology?

A growing number of companies is choosing both, rather than either.

Case in point – Simulmedia, which had, until now, majored on lighting up advertiser access to linear TV spots using data techniques, is now adding over-the-top TV ad inventory to its offering.

Through an integration with SpotX, Simulmedia says it can now offer buyers spots from 50 OTT streaming TV networks, Mediapost reports. comScore, Nielsen and NBCUniversal’s CFlight are also tapped for partnerships.

What’s the big idea?

“We needed more OTT inventory,” says Simulmedia president John Piccone in this video interview with Beet.TV. “We realized … there was a need to fulfill incremental reach for marketers and incremental revenue for the sale side on that.

Piccone says the first advertisers to take advantage are all direct-to-consumer brands.

“They grew up on this notion of digital marketing that want to make it to the big screen,” he says. “They need more reach. The first movers are going to get the best opportunity.”

So far, so good. Most big advertisers these days want to advertise on both linear and on-demand channels.

Bu Piccone says Simulmedia brings something new to the mix.

“A lot of people have been approaching the market from a digital-plus-linear perspective,” he adds. “We’re going the other way. Our experience is linear from a data driven lens and now we’re adding on OTT.”