Spectrum Reach’s Bill Herman: Local Advertisers Now Have More Opportunities Than Ever Before
Local advertising has always traded on reach. What’s changing is the precision with which local brands can now find their audiences. But as with all advertising, the details depend on the measurement infrastructure.
“Relevancy is great, but making sure that the measurement is included is even more important. That way you know that you are being relevant and it’s making an impact for your business,” Bill Herman, Group VP of Local Sales at Spectrum Reach, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan. “It’s really all about the right premium environments, the right audience, and the transparency in reporting.”
That combination of scale and digital precision, Herman argues, is opening opportunities for local advertisers that previously belonged only to national campaigns.
Set top box and streaming work together
Consumers don’t think about which device they’re watching; they just watch. Herman’s case for combining set top box and IP-based inventory starts from that behavioral reality and works backward.
“It’s imperative to have both because consumers are toggling across both. We take advantage of linear TV to give you that reach and scale that you need, and then activate streaming with digital precision to give you that flexibility to find that target audience,” Herman said.
Spectrum Reach’s first-party viewership data sits across both environments, enabling holistic planning rather than siloed channel strategies.
AI finds where, when, and how audiences watch
Running thousands of campaigns monthly generates a substantial data asset. Spectrum Reach’s Architect planning tool applies AI to that inventory and viewership data to allocate spend toward target audiences more efficiently than traditional TV planning allows.
“We are taking that first party privacy protected viewership data in order to find that audience. These plans compared to traditional TV plans and streaming plans give us 127% more reach and at more efficient CPMs,” Herman said.
Sports opens local scale
Streaming’s expansion into live sports is creating new inventory for local brands that historically couldn’t afford or access those environments. Combined with richer audience data and more granular measurement, the gap between local and national advertiser capabilities is narrowing.
“There’s more opportunities for local advertisers than there’s ever been before. We’re seeing sports as a big opportunity in the streaming space, giving us an opportunity to reach local consumers for local brands,” Herman said.
Partnership over impressions
Spectrum Reach’s local sales teams operate market by market, working directly with clients to translate business objectives into media strategy rather than simply selling inventory.
“We want to make sure that we’re really partnering with them, that we’re not just selling them impressions,” Herman said. “They partner one-to-one with these clients to understand the business strategy and what they’re trying to achieve. They live in the market. They’re there to help these local clients, and that relationship really drives meaningful success.”
Creative support rounds out the offering, combining AI-powered production tools with human oversight from Spectrum Reach’s own production team to ensure local messaging lands with the right resonance.
“It’s that longstanding partnership that we have in these markets and our local expertise that really drive business outcomes for our clients,” Herman said.
Local advertising has always traded on reach. What’s changing is the precision with which local brands can now find their audiences. But as with all advertising, the details depend on the measurement infrastructure.
“Relevancy is great, but making sure that the measurement is included is even more important. That way you know that you are being relevant and it’s making an impact for your business,” Bill Herman, Group VP of Local Sales at Spectrum Reach, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan. “It’s really all about the right premium environments, the right audience, and the transparency in reporting.”
That combination of scale and digital precision, Herman argues, is opening opportunities for local advertisers that previously belonged only to national campaigns.
Set top box and streaming work together
Consumers don’t think about which device they’re watching; they just watch. Herman’s case for combining set top box and IP-based inventory starts from that behavioral reality and works backward.
“It’s imperative to have both because consumers are toggling across both. We take advantage of linear TV to give you that reach and scale that you need, and then activate streaming with digital precision to give you that flexibility to find that target audience,” Herman said.
Spectrum Reach’s first-party viewership data sits across both environments, enabling holistic planning rather than siloed channel strategies.
AI finds where, when, and how audiences watch
Running thousands of campaigns monthly generates a substantial data asset. Spectrum Reach’s Architect planning tool applies AI to that inventory and viewership data to allocate spend toward target audiences more efficiently than traditional TV planning allows.
“We are taking that first party privacy protected viewership data in order to find that audience. These plans compared to traditional TV plans and streaming plans give us 127% more reach and at more efficient CPMs,” Herman said.
Sports opens local scale
Streaming’s expansion into live sports is creating new inventory for local brands that historically couldn’t afford or access those environments. Combined with richer audience data and more granular measurement, the gap between local and national advertiser capabilities is narrowing.
“There’s more opportunities for local advertisers than there’s ever been before. We’re seeing sports as a big opportunity in the streaming space, giving us an opportunity to reach local consumers for local brands,” Herman said.
Partnership over impressions
Spectrum Reach’s local sales teams operate market by market, working directly with clients to translate business objectives into media strategy rather than simply selling inventory.
“We want to make sure that we’re really partnering with them, that we’re not just selling them impressions,” Herman said. “They partner one-to-one with these clients to understand the business strategy and what they’re trying to achieve. They live in the market. They’re there to help these local clients, and that relationship really drives meaningful success.”
Creative support rounds out the offering, combining AI-powered production tools with human oversight from Spectrum Reach’s own production team to ensure local messaging lands with the right resonance.
“It’s that longstanding partnership that we have in these markets and our local expertise that really drive business outcomes for our clients,” Herman said.
