AdExplainer: What Is Advanced TV?

The advert trade has plenty of similar-sounding phrases to explain how content material reaches viewers – superior TV, addressable TV, convergent TV. But what these phrases really imply and the way they differ is one other story – properly, this one, really.
Although addressable, superior and convergent TV may sound like synonyms, they’re distinct ideas. Think of superior TV because the umbrella time period with addressable and convergent TV as particular methods.
“Advanced TV” refers to something that’s not conventional, over-the-air broadcast TV. It represents the “transfer past demos to extra exactly distribute, goal and measure” TV content material throughout households and gadgets, stated Jes Santoro, SVP of superior TV and video at Cadent.
In different phrases, superior TV displays the broader transfer away from legacy tv and towards cross-platform content material distribution and utilizing knowledge to tell campaigns.
“There are a couple of flavors of this variation,” stated Tracey Scheppach, CEO of video advertising and marketing consultancy Matter More Media. “But it actually comes down to 2 issues: the way in which content material is distributed and the quantity of information that’s captured.”

The totally different “flavors” of nontraditional TV embrace all the varied trade phrases individuals use to speak about altering TV consumption habits, together with addressable TV, convergent TV, data-driven linear and OTT.
It’s essential to grasp the nuances.
What is addressable TV?
Addressability is the deterministic one-to-one supply of advertisements, versus the one-to-many distribution legacy TV is thought for.
“Broadcast tv is unicast, which means [all content] comes from a central place and each family sees the identical factor,” Scheppach stated.
Addressable TV, in the meantime, makes use of viewers insights tied to an IP deal with and/or a set-top field to focus on a tool on a one-to-one stage. This signifies that every family is targetable with a unique customized advert.
But whereas just some linear TV is addressable, OTT and digital content material is addressable by nature, as a result of it’s all served based mostly on a viewer’s IP deal with, Scheppach stated.
“Linear and OTT, together with CTV, cellular and desktop – all of that’s addressable,” Scheppach added. “Addressability is an idea that doesn’t fall in just one camp or the opposite.”
The time period “addressable linear” particularly refers to using knowledge for one-to-one focusing on on linear channels.
Got it. But then … what the heck is “data-driven linear” (DDL)?
The 411 On DDL
The greatest approach to consider data-driven linear is as a much less refined model of addressable TV.
Traditional, legacy linear has at all times relied on knowledge from Nielsen’s 40,000-person panel to supply TV rankings.
DDL is only one step above that. Rather than counting on a small pattern measurement of “surrogate” knowledge, DDL makes use of customized panels constructed with extra first- and third-party knowledge units that assist advertisers higher “determine linear spots that index extremely in opposition to their audience,” stated Jon Watts, managing director of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM).
Although DDL continues to be a panel-based methodology, it makes use of extra knowledge than conventional TV.
But as a demo-based, probabilistic method, DDL nonetheless inevitably results in some wastage. “It doesn’t create an amazing quantity of effectivity [without] lopping off the individuals you didn’t need to discuss to,” Scheppach stated.
Compared with the likes of superior and addressable TV, the time period “data-driven linear” not solely isn’t horny however may additionally be considerably redundant.
Some trade gamers suppose DDL is a reasonably unhelpful time period, Watts stated, as a result of “we’ve at all times used indexing to determine audience [demos] and, similar to broadcast, a sure portion of the viewers [that is reached] gained’t essentially meet the goal demo.”
Watts added that using demos is why the trade continues to be debating whether or not or not DDL could be thought of “superior.” Opinions appear to range based mostly on how related the apply is for the individual holding court docket. Digital-native gamers are inclined to look down their noses at DDL, whereas when linear-first firms say “superior TV,” they’re probably really referring to DDL, Cadent’s Santoro stated.
Long story brief, DDL falls beneath superior TV as a result of it makes use of extra knowledge to focus on demos – nevertheless it’s not one-to-one addressable.
Converged TV
Last however not least, converged TV refers back to the better of each worlds: the power to transact media buys throughout all screens, channels and platforms.
“Converged TV is precisely what it says it’s – the convergence of all types of TV, together with linear, linked TVs and OTT gadgets, like telephones or tablets that may ship TV content material by apps or the online,” Santoro stated. “In a totally converged world, we might have the methods and infrastructure in place to plan and transact throughout all screens, with constant phrases and workflows.”
Although we don’t but reside in a totally converged TV world, marrying the most effective of linear and digital tech and methodology would actually assist cope with the commonest viewer grievances, with advert overfrequency on the high of the checklist.
Today, linear and OTT are like two islands: You can see throughout one to the opposite, however they’re disconnected.
“Convergence is with the ability to measure throughout the 2 islands to realize a unified advert expertise,” Scheppach stated. “If I’m watching CNN by way of my Comcast subscription however then later I activate Hulu, I don’t need to see the identical advert 10 instances a method and 10 instances the opposite approach.”
Viewers don’t need to see the identical advert 20 instances, and advertisers don’t need to ship a foul expertise – and but it retains on taking place.
Why? Because converged TV continues to be a piece in progress. To put it extra merely, “Right now we [still] can’t rely,” Scheppach stated.