Programmatic TV Has Turned A Corner: SMG’s Bertozzi

It is the medium most desired by programmatic ad-tech execs, who can sniff a slice of a $70 billion advertising industry. But TV is still only on the path to programmatic, not yet at full conversion.

Still, one ad group man says the prospects for that tipping point are now looking a lot healthier, five years after it began.

“We seem to be turning a corner regarding broadcasts and their engagement in the programmatic space,” SMG’s performance marketing CEO Marco Bertozzi tells Beet.TV in this video interview. “We are seeing broadcasters have realised they need to find a way to understand their own audience better, and help advertisers deliver more specifically.”

Recently, UK satellite operate Sky invested in the brand data and analytics platform DataXu, while Videology has also struck a number of broadcaster partnerships.

“All of of the mainstream broadcasters are doing something now in this space,” Bertozzi says. “After quite a few years of resistance, it’s a positive shift, and a demonstration of the last hurdle toward programmatic being part of every channel that we operate in.”

But, so far, broadcasters’ programmatic foray has been limited to their digitally-delivered video-on-demand inventory. The next five years will see the shift of linear TV, too, Bertozzi reckons.