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Don’t call it a comeback but, after coming through a period in which a slowdown was capped by new regulation, MarTech consolidation may be back in-play. So says Terry Kawaja, the M&A advisor who has had a hand in many of the biggest media and advertising tech deals of the last decade. Despite fears that […]

In the most significant manifestation of its desire to offer one-stop advertising, Walt Disney Co. is consolidating ESPN and Disney/ABC properties under Rita Ferro while announcing that longtime ESPN sales chief Ed Erhardt will retire in early 2019. In addition to ESPN and Disney/ABC, Ferro’s domain as President of Disney Advertising Sales will include Disney’s […]

Longtime WPP executive Mark Read, who has been serving as interim co-COO in the aftermath of the departure of the April Martin Sorrell, has been selected as the new CEO of WPP.

Nielsen’s Gracenote unit has a new Mobile Video Analytics solution embedded in mobile phones that provides a range of information on the quality and performance of the most popular mobile video streaming applications. It uses a combination of proprietary video quality and performance testing with real-time usage data from thousands of people in more than […]

Matt Spiegel, managing director at MediaLink, has joined the giant data company TransUnion to head its new formed media vertical, focused on addressable solutions. In a press release, the company explains:  “His expertise will further TransUnion’s ability to deliver the addressable solutions required by enterprise marketers and media companies to make informed modeling, strategic investment […]

With 78% of its viewing happening on living room television sets, Hulu has a big stake in solutions like comScore’s soon-to-launch Campaign Ratings tool for measuring de-duplicated, cross-platform audiences. “I would say that there has been a lot of progress” in cross-screen measurement, says Hulu’s Julie DeTraglia. “I will give the industry all of the […]

As it prepares to launch “a new kind of advertising company,” the AT&T Advertising and Analytics unit is doubling down on the attention economy and how marketers and publishers must harness data and technology to attain relevancy amid an explosion of consumer content choices. “There is almost infinite information fighting and competing for finite human […]

When Roku’s CEO told The Vergecast podcast last week the company wasn’t a hardware company but an advertising one, it seemed to surprise watchers. But he wasn’t kidding. Roku, which has been making streaming media players for TV for a decade now, generated $225 million in platform revenue last year, which includes advertising. According to this Motley Fool analysis, whilst […]

Founded four years ago, VideoAmp aims to help advertisers and media owners plan, package, execute and measure the success of de-duplicated and precisely targeted campaigns that reach linear TV, VOD, OTT and digital consumers. Now it is taking a step up by acquiring one company and partnering with another. The outfit has acquired IronGrid Data […]

Amid all the hubbub about “omni-channel” marketing, if there’s one agency that should be best placed to execute on the opportunity, it is surely the one with “omni” in its very company name. As if that was not enough, however, Omnicom Group has just launched a new software suite for delivering a single-customer-view across all […]

For some advertising holding companies, transformation means pruning or consolidating assets accumulated over the last several decades. For IPG, it means paying $2 billion for consumer data giant Acxiom Marketing Solutions and its assets in more than 30 countries. “We believe that the future of marketing and not just media is data driven, and that […]

The digital platforms are commanding a greater and greater share of ad spend, and may even now be contributing to a forecast decline in US TV ad spend. How can the TV industry fight back? By simplifying and going large, says Operative CEO Lorne Brown, in this video interview with Beet.TV, Together with FreeWheel, Brown’s […]

New York adtech company MediaMath has raised $225 million to fund expansion and acquisitions from investment firm Searchlight Capital Partners, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The investment brings the valuation of the company to $1 billion, the Journal says citing sources. Earlier this year, Beet.TV interviewed MediaMath CEO Joe Zawadzki. The topic was the […]

Today, AT&T announced it would acquire New York-based adtech firm AppNexus.   In February at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, we interviewed founder and CEO Brian O’Kelley about the company’s growth and expanding efforts in the video marketplace.  We are republishing that video today

Blockchain is still early in its life cycle of development – but could soon help advertisers and others track the provenance and history of what they buy. That is the new idea bubbling in some sections of ad-land, as technology companies look for ways to take the new infrastructure to new customer categories beside crypto-currency. […]

Lots going on: Among the highlights will be Joe Marchese, president/revenue FOX Networks Group, returning to the Freewheel/Comcast stage Tuesday morning for another Festival highlight.  We have reposted this video of Joe from last June’s FreeWheel/Comcast cabana gig.  Welcome back Joe! Big Plans: We have several programs of partnerships set for this week.  Our home […]

David Dworin, VP Advisory Services, FreeWheel highlights findings from a very deep data dive by FreeWheel into the complex subject of creating the optimal video advertising experience for viewers: “We’re realizing that ad experience is more complicated than just cutting the number of ads.” But while there’s plenty of complication, “There’s actually a lot of other […]

SAN JUAN, PR – Last September, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. As cleanup and reconstruction continue, members of The Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico are still actively helping their communities, but they face challenges when it comes to resources. “They have the power to change our society. We only have to fight for […]

It took streaming video options and ad-free platforms to tip the scale, but the advertising industry has finally caught on to the importance of the viewer experience. “The big picture is that programmers are thinking today more about the user experience than they ever have before,” says OMD’s Ben Winkler, who will join a host […]

With broadcasters like Turner experimenting with shorter ad loads in order to improve premium video ad experiences, what is the commercial break anymore – and what is the optimum length of an ad? Suddenly, all bets are off – and answers to those questions are becoming necessary. That’s why the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video, […]