WEBVTT - Making Addressable Accessible: ViacomCBS, Dish Execs Explain An Advertising Innovation 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:10.960 Welcome to Strictly Business, a podcast where we talk with 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.000 some of the brightest minds working in the media business today. 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:17.720 I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety and this is a special 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:22.080 episode part of a multi media series sponsored by Viacom 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:27.480 CBS that we're calling Making Addressable Accessible. It's a multi 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:32.800 part exploration of a technology known as addressable TV, an innovation, 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.879 and how marketers are able to target the right audiences 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.600 with the right messages. Addressable TV is fast becoming a 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:42.760 part of the discussion in the upfront marketplace, which is 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:46.159 why I'm excited to dig into its implications for advertising 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:50.000 with my guests seem A Patel, vice President of Partnership 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:55.080 Development at Viacom CBS, and Tim Meyer's GM of Strategic 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:59.600 Partnerships and Products at Dish Media. Their collaboration in the 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:01.760 space is just one of the many facets will be 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:05.360 exploring in this series, so look for more upcoming dates 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:08.759 from us in July and August for future webinar editions 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:21.400 of Making Addressable Accessible. Welcome back to the Strictly Business podcast. 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.480 I'm looking forward to getting into what addressable TV is 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:29.040 all about today with my guests Seema Patel and Tim myers. 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:31.880 Thanks to both of you for taking part in this conversation. 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:36.639 Thanks for having us, yep, thanks for having us. So first, 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:39.360 I just want to get very basic for the uninitiated. 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:44.120 Let's spend some time just defining what addressable TV is, 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:46.959 you know, the one oh one definition. Who wants to 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:54.200 take that? I'll take it. Go ahead, Tim, do you 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.120 want to go or should I? I'll let you? And 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.800 all adds in color? How's that? That's perfect? So hopefully 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:04.880 you'll like my example. Um, it's it's all about personalizing ads. Uh. 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.160 You know. Addressable is the ability to serve relevant ads 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:11.680 to consumers regardless of what or when they are watching. 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.320 So if Tim and I are both Dish customers, and 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.119 we're both watching the Daily Show, and let's say we're 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:21.280 both in the market for an auto, I, as a 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:24.280 mom with two kids who I'm constantly driving around, might 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:27.200 get an ad for an SUV, and Tim, whose kids 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:29.440 are older and have left the nest, might get an 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:33.720 ad for a sports car. Now, more broadly speaking, the 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.040 goal of addressable advertising is really to use technology and 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:40.880 data to deliver the best advertising experience for our clients 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:43.959 and our viewers, and so this is important for two 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:48.200 key reasons. For viewers, addressable targeting provides the most relevant 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:52.560 and engaging AD experience, which represents a valuable exchange of 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:56.400 their time and attention for our premium content, and for 0:02:56.600 --> 0:03:00.440 advertisers and agencies, the best AD experience is not only 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:04.560 one that's the most relevant, engaging, and effective, but it's 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:09.239 also one that provides scale and operational efficiency and transactional ease. 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:13.600 And I would just add, you know, some other benefits 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:19.440 to the fundamental technology. Here is a shift from what 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:23.080 we would traditionally call a spot based approach, where an 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:27.480 AD is inserted into a particular piece of programming a 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:30.600 TV show at a very specific time, and then it's 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:35.280 broadcast out to everybody who's watching that show at that time. 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:40.720 With the addressable technology that we're using, we're switching over 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:44.240 to what I would call an impression based model, more 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:47.160 similar to how it works in a digital environment, where 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:52.840 an AD is served uniquely to the household or the 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:57.680 device that is watching the content, and not the entire population, 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:02.600 and that allows those different ads to be essentially presented 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:08.680 to different viewers. That has other benefits above just targeting. Um. 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:13.640 For instance, it does allow an advertiser to find the 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:18.360 viewer whenever and wherever they're watching, and that allows them 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:22.520 to uh get in front of more viewers. And it 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.200 also allows them to control how often of your will 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:29.480 see that ad, which we would call control of both 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:32.480 reach and frequency. So those are also big benefits of 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:36.640 this technology. So it's clear to me how what you're 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:40.200 doing with addressable differs from sort of the traditional spray 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:43.039 and prey approaches they used to say in in in 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:47.600 linear television. But this also isn't a new marketplace. I've 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:51.040 been hearing about addressable TV now for nearly a decade. 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.720 I believe the market are recently estimated this is sort 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:57.839 of like a three point four billion dollar business. So 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.800 where are we in the evolu of addressable TV? Where 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.800 we're we're Are we at a place where this is 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:08.559 finally ready to sort of make the leap into being 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:13.839 a more accepted technology used in the business. Yeah, we're 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:17.359 certainly getting there. I mean look, satellite providers like Dish 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:21.719 and Direct TV were the first to enable addressability UM 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.480 and others. Other cable operators and m v p s 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:28.919 have followed. UM. You know, in a former life, actually 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:31.159 helped launch s live when you're addressable a direct TV 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:36.000 back in it was a coveted capability that at the 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:39.520 time was only available to m v PD sales channels, 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:45.040 and more recently, thanks to continued partnership from collaboration, programmers 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.479 have collaborated with m v PD s tech partners, data 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:53.320 vendors to enable our own avails to offer our clients, 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:57.280 you know, our premium video inventory that is addressable capable. 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.760 So I think we're seeing this evolution and of just 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:07.200 cross organizational collaboration UM that's allowing and opening up the 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:12.640 road to broader scale of addressability. Yeah, and I would 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:16.160 just add, I think this milestone that we're beginning to 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:21.679 hit right now where UH programmers like viacom are starting 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:26.760 to offer these capabilities in their inventory, which is the 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:31.920 you know, the bulk of the available TV advertising inventory 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:36.920 in the marketplace is extremely important. Over the past eight 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:42.599 or so years, as Dish has been selling addressable at 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:45.119 some version of scale. And I say at some version 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.320 because as as you mentioned, it's it's been sort of 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:52.800 this new technology that's been growing and and and as 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:57.279 quietly been you know, growing at good rates sort of 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:01.240 behind the scenes, but it's always carried with it a 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:05.520 perception that UM it's in the what we call the 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:09.760 local inventory, the inventory controlled by the distributor, and because 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:12.600 of that, it's broken up by different distributors, which could 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:16.360 mean it has some geographic components. So we can't necessarily 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:23.160 UM execute for all subscribers, all viewers across the entire nation. 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:25.240 I mean, yes, it's a nice dish and direct TV 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:30.240 our national products and we can get you exposure. But 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:34.120 in certain markets where let's say Comcast is the dominant 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.320 video provider, right you, you would still be missing a 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:41.520 number of folks there. So it it it's something that 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:46.880 because it was tied into that sort of distributor controlled inventory, 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:50.920 it just was perceived as not really having scale, and 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:55.320 therefore it would end up in UM budgets that were 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:59.200 not the mainstream budgets, and and because of that, there 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:02.240 were all you know, they're also variability. There's more variability 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:06.360 in those budgets UM. And so, now, as I said, 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:11.040 hitting these milestones where programmers will be bringing that inventory in, 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:16.840 where this will become really just another mainstream TV AD product, 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:20.280 that's that's that's gonna really I think take addressable to 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:25.480 the next level. So I'm getting a feel for the Viacom, CBS, 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.640 and dish perspectives, and we're certainly going to dig into 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.160 how you guys relate to each other in making addressable 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.640 TV happen further into this conversation. But I think we 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:38.400 also got to address the other major party in this room, 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:42.320 which is the media buying community, which you know throw 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:45.360 you know, the knock on Madison Avenue, and it's slow 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:49.520 to move, it's slow to embrace change. Addressable TV sounds 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:53.280 like a very significant change. So I know, you guys 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:57.560 and many other companies recently commissioned a survey from forest 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:01.360 Or to gauge the important perspectives of the media buyer 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:06.800 and community. What did you learn about what addressable TV 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:12.400 has been for that critical component of the industry. I 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:16.040 think the community is really starting to embrace it and 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:18.800 see value in it. Um you know. Some of the 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:22.760 findings that came out of the study. Media buyers that 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:26.680 were surveyed said their organizations are focused on using addressable 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:30.720 t V to improve the effectiveness of their TV campaign targeting. 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.280 Forty four percent said that delivering more personalized and relevant 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.520 ads for their customers is one of the most important 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:42.839 outcomes for addressable TV buys. So you know, I think 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:47.120 they are really coming around. And and in addition, you 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:50.160 know that study came out in March. We're currently in 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.560 the thick of our upfront conversations and we're seeing those 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.200 stats come to life. Where we've had a lot of 0:09:56.280 --> 0:10:03.920 encouraging and positive discussions around addressable in general. Got it um, 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:09.319 But were there areas tim where you felt or sorry 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.000 the media buyers You started to get a sense from 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.600 them of well, this is a pain point, this is 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:19.440 something we need to fix in order to get more 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:23.600 of an embrace from Madison Avenue of addressable TV. Yes, 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:26.040 I mean those media companies said, you know, work to 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:31.680 promote simplicity, expand available addressable TV inventory. So again going 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.559 back to the point I was raising earlier, where addressable 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.760 was a bit fragmented, Right, If you wanted to uh 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.560 a purchase a campaign that was going to reach as 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:46.760 many possible viewers, you would have to make a purchase 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:48.719 from Dish, you would have to make a purchase from 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.319 Direct TV, you would have to make a purchase from 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:56.320 Comcast or their representative Ampersand and you know, each of 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:59.440 those companies may have slightly different ways they do things, 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:04.079 right and slightly different data partners and slightly different measurement capabilities, 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.880 and someone has to stitch all that together, right, and 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:14.080 and so that that complexity was really was really a barrier. 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:18.000 And so media companies are saying, hey, we need you 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.480 to define and promote a single measurement standard for instance, 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:26.920 we need in our operability across partners and technologies, and 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:30.560 we need you to enable the buying of these national minutes, 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:34.400 these these minutes within the programmers inventory. So those those 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:38.600 were some of the major UH points that came out 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:43.880 from the media company side when survey. And I guess 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:48.520 it's important to hear that feedback. I mean, were either 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:53.920 of you surprised or learned things from this survey that 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:58.559 you didn't even expect to learn, maybe things you hadn't anticipated. 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.120 M I think for me it was a bit mixed, right. 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:05.240 I think we knew that some of these issues were 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:10.319 out there and and that they were creating some barriers. 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.840 But I think when we when we heard how firmly 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:19.160 rooted some of these issues and opinions around these issues 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:24.360 um are with with various constituencies. It's because it's the 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:27.800 media buyers. But even when you talk to the to 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.440 to the sellers like ourselves that dish or when you 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:34.440 talk to the tech platforms that are UM you know, 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:38.240 putting together offerings to try to help solve this these 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:42.200 these issues, they just rise to the top. And and 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:44.600 so it is I think it's good that we now 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:50.160 have this consolidated view in this survey that is really 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:55.840 really UM sort of helping to set the roadmap in 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.640 terms of what we what we need to do to 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.079 take this to the next levels. From that perspective, it's 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:05.200 it's it's very helpful, So not entirely surprising, but this 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:10.160 additional clarity really really important. Yeah, I agree. I would 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:14.319 say I think it gave us an opportunity UM to 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:18.200 better understand the buying communities POV and to validate the 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:23.480 direction that we were all individually and collectively heading. And again, 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:26.040 you know, it gives us, it gives us that push, 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:32.200 It gives us UM, you know, further opportunity to advocate 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:36.480 for positive change and evolution. I mean looks as partners UM. 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.800 You know, we had representation for the study across m 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:43.040 vpd s, programmers, data companies, tech vendors, and we all 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:45.840 tend to bring unique points of view, but to have 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:49.760 an objective third party evaluate the current and future state 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:54.360 of addressability really gives us the opportunity to further align 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:58.880 on future state. But when you list out those partners, 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:03.040 that's what I'm struck by, because it really takes all 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:07.560 these different pieces of the puzzle to make addressable work. 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:10.520 And so I'm curious, because you've both been doing this 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:15.000 for a while at various companies in different capacities, how 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:21.200 was that collaboration evolved over the years. You know, it's 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:25.560 it's much less siloed now, right, Um, As Tim mentioned, 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:31.680 you know, there was there there was a lot of fragmentation, 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:37.360 and now with collaboration, um, with programmers getting into the mix, 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:44.320 I think that the collaboration becomes deeper, it becomes more transparent. Um. 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:48.040 I mean we're now working side by side, whereas before 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:50.680 we were sort of, you know, on opposite sides of 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:54.120 the table. And I think just the level of collaboration 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:56.840 that we've seen happen even in the last five years 0:14:57.040 --> 0:15:00.400 is tremendous um, you know, and I'm hope that that's 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.320 going to continue so that we can just continue to 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:07.120 drive progress together. It is, it's it's it's an enormous 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:12.160 amount of effort across different lanes, UM. But the good 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.480 news is is that you know, at every turn there 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.960 is a lot of engagement, UM and just a lot 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:24.760 of a lot of mutual uh, a lot of mutual 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:28.200 collaboration to move towards making progress and shipping away at 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:30.240 all the things that we know we need to continue 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.920 to to work towards. Yeah, I would add, you know, 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.000 I think distributors in particular have had a history of 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:41.920 working together, UH Dish and direct TV. We have a 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:44.840 very strong example and something we've been doing in the 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:48.800 political space that we branded as D two, where a 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:54.040 political agency can buy Addressable from D two that will 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:59.440 end up being transacted on direct TV, on Dish, on sling. 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:02.600 So so you know, in some ways it's a it 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:06.720 was a preview of how how this will work UM 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:11.400 at larger scale across you know, more distributors and more 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:17.120 inventory types. But the this sort of shift of now 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:20.600 a programmer and a distributor working together on this, this 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:23.720 is something new, and this is something that's exciting and 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:28.080 important because, um, you know, when addressable was first starting, 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:32.160 it was a unique advantage for a distributor, right, and 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.000 it was something that I think in the beginning, we 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.240 would have we would have sort of said, hey, this 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:42.360 is competitive to what programmers UM you know, have in 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:46.960 terms of overall ability to sell into the advertising market. Right, 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.040 it was sort of a unique product for a distributor, 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.320 especially a satellite company like Dish or direct TV. But 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.280 we are now, as we said earlier, realizing to sort 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:58.400 of drive the scale and to take this to the 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.600 next level, we have to do it in partnership with 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:04.760 the programmers. Again, that point was made very very clear 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:08.840 in that in that Forrester study. So so this new 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:13.160 dynamic of working together with the programmers, to me UM 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:19.120 is really really important and and it is very good, 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.920 as Seema said, to now be uh not on different sides, 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:26.320 but on the same side and working through all the 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:29.520 challenges to pull this off. The other you know, the 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:34.200 other part of this too though, has been the technology 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:37.960 and the ad tech companies and and you know we 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:42.920 need them to also uh come along and to provide 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.720 innovation to you know, fill gaps where they exist UM 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:48.960 and then you know they need the capital to be 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:52.960 able to do that. And so we are seeing um, 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:56.040 I think a number of ad tech companies who are 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:59.600 stepping up UM. We are seeing some of them who 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:03.439 are well capitalize, which is important and UM, you know, 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.359 I think that that that's going to UM play a 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:11.600 big part in terms of also making this UM a 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:18.360 much more robust offering in the marketplace. I'm talking with 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:22.880 Seema Patel of Viacom, CBS and Tim Myers Dish Media 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:27.480 about addressable TV. Will be back in just a minute. 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:36.159 Welcome back to the Strictly Business podcast. I'm talking the 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:41.280 Sema Patel and Tim Meyers about addressable television. Tim mentioned 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:44.960 Seema the notion that the m v p d s 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.639 aren't the only game in town in terms of you 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:52.080 know where addressable happens. Your job is to get addressable 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:56.200 avails going in as many places and as possible. So 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:59.720 what is that like nowadays? What's the opportunity there or 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:03.399 the challenges in getting that? It's the critical piece of 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:08.160 all this just getting as much inventory out there. Yeah. UM. 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:12.440 So applying the power of data to our offerings allows 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:16.600 clients to combine the scale of TV with the precision 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:21.440 that's available today in digital media, where targeting is more accurate, 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:25.440 measurements deeper media investments can be evaluated for their respective 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:28.040 contributions to business goals. So really what we're doing is 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.600 we're bringing all of that to TV. So the opportunity 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:34.840 there is it's a much smarter value proposition for clients. 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:37.680 It's also a way for brands to connect with their 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:41.840 fragmented audiences. UM. You know, and that being said from 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:45.480 a Viacom CBS perspective, there's a tremendous amount of complexity 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:50.920 involved in enabling and managing multiple end points of inventory. 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:55.080 We currently have a forty plus million household footprint across 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:59.800 four major distributors, and we're very focused on working through 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:04.080 the unification and streamlining of execution so we can get 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:06.639 to a point where we can truly write once and 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:10.760 publish everywhere. UM. And the goal here is to help 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:16.200 further simplify by sell side interactions, rendering that process as 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.920 seamless as possible. So we want to continue to make 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:21.479 it as easy as possible for our clients to engage 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:27.040 with us, and so driving automation will continue to drive efficiency, 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:31.399 which will ultimately help us to further scale the offerings. 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:36.200 And you know, Seema, earlier, you talked about, you know, 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:40.159 being in the middle of the upfront marketplace. You know, 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:43.480 how are you feeling right now about where addressable is 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:48.119 going to stand once once we're done with the upfront period. 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:51.680 You know, speaking broadly, are you getting the sense as 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:55.200 you speak to marketers this time around, Hey, they get 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:57.200 it in a way they maybe didn't a year or 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:00.359 two ago. Yeah. I mean the feedback that I'm getting 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:04.959 so far is all really positive from our sales team. UM. 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:08.640 And I think marketers see the value. I think they 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:12.840 see that. You know, it's not even the future as 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:15.680 data driven, it's it's where everyone has to be data 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:19.640 driven now. UM. And I think you know, the last 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:23.000 year with the pandemic, I think that further underscored the 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:28.520 need for data driven solutions, UM, in order to you know, 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:32.119 for brands to activate their campaigns in the most effective 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:38.080 and efficient, meaningful way. Got it? Um. You know, one 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:40.480 of the things that emerged from the forest your survey, 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:43.000 I think was a sense on the media buyer side 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:48.159 that those in leadership positions at those organizations, you know, 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:52.960 they didn't necessarily get addressable that you know, it was 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:54.879 going to take a process for them to sort of 0:21:54.880 --> 0:21:58.679 move from the traditional Uh. Do you think looking at 0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:04.720 your own companies, that there's been a learning curve for 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:09.160 everyone to understand the value of addressable why it's worth 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:16.359 investing and experimenting and spending time with it. I think 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:20.680 there's always UM, there's always an education and an evangeli 0:22:21.040 --> 0:22:26.159 evangelization process UM. But but you know, for the most part, 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:30.800 Vicount CBS, it's been embraced, and you know, I think 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:35.840 everyone has been extremely supportive and forward looking when it 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:40.400 comes to addressability. I think everyone is on board and 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:45.080 has made every effort to support our goal of really 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:50.000 enabling as many addressable end points across our portfolio as possible. 0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:53.879 And I don't want to speak for Siema and and 0:22:54.000 --> 0:22:56.520 seem it's certainly you know, jump in if what I'm 0:22:56.560 --> 0:22:59.920 saying UM is not it's not accurate from your perspective. 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:04.359 But I think observing UM a little bit from the 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:08.840 outside in terms of how it's working with programmers and 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:15.440 with media agencies, this technology allows for much better yield optimization, 0:23:15.720 --> 0:23:19.240 which benefits not only the seller but but also brings 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:23.120 more supply into the marketplace. So I think those are 0:23:23.320 --> 0:23:28.159 you know, really important UM changes that have been taking place, 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:32.560 right with with what's been happening with with ratings and 0:23:32.560 --> 0:23:35.800 and sort of overall linear supply being very very tight 0:23:35.880 --> 0:23:40.399 in the marketplace from the from the dish perspective. You know, 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:43.240 as I mentioned earlier, this this was a unique capability 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:45.680 we could bring to market. So we've been very very 0:23:45.720 --> 0:23:51.080 bullish unaddressable and continue to be very bullish unaddressable. So, um, 0:23:51.280 --> 0:23:54.040 it was not something we had to to really sell 0:23:54.080 --> 0:23:58.040 into our company because because again we knew that, you know, 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:01.040 we had some some really important assets to bring to 0:24:01.080 --> 0:24:04.520 the table in terms of making address will happen at scale. 0:24:06.560 --> 0:24:08.480 I wanted to dig a little deeper into something we 0:24:08.600 --> 0:24:12.960 just touched on earlier, the subject of measurement. Uh. It 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:17.119 felt in reading the forest or survey, working towards a 0:24:17.200 --> 0:24:22.320 single measurement standard was identified as a big priority. So 0:24:22.880 --> 0:24:27.080 what progresses there uh that you know can be point 0:24:27.160 --> 0:24:29.399 to for those who are skeptics, maybe those in the 0:24:29.440 --> 0:24:32.520 media buying community who are still trying to get it 0:24:33.040 --> 0:24:37.240 in terms of how things stand with addressable and getting 0:24:37.240 --> 0:24:43.800 towards a single measurement standard. I can start, you know, 0:24:43.840 --> 0:24:48.040 I think that that measurements an interesting topic when we 0:24:48.160 --> 0:24:52.800 are talking about addressable because the traditional measurement and television 0:24:52.880 --> 0:24:59.080 has been the Nielsen ratings based measurement, and it's in 0:24:59.200 --> 0:25:03.879 many ways that has held back the ability to do 0:25:04.000 --> 0:25:08.399 addressable because if you if you start to UH take 0:25:08.480 --> 0:25:14.040 impressions out of a Nielsen rated spot, then Nielsen will 0:25:14.080 --> 0:25:17.439 no longer validate the rating on that spot, and and 0:25:17.520 --> 0:25:20.760 therefore that has been perceived in the past to be 0:25:21.200 --> 0:25:28.080 less valuable. There is now a significant UM A set 0:25:28.119 --> 0:25:32.000 of initiatives underway in the industry to resolve that. Nielsen 0:25:32.160 --> 0:25:36.440 has really embraced this in and has announced that they 0:25:36.480 --> 0:25:39.240 will have solutions for this. There are there are also 0:25:39.280 --> 0:25:42.520 other companies like com Score who have been at this 0:25:42.600 --> 0:25:45.200 for a while and you know, have a very good 0:25:45.280 --> 0:25:49.800 understanding of how impression based measurement works on TV in 0:25:49.840 --> 0:25:53.919 addition to how it you know works in the digital environments. 0:25:53.960 --> 0:25:58.240 So I think those those two things alone, UH really 0:25:58.280 --> 0:26:03.880 really give us a good view of the path forward UM. 0:26:03.920 --> 0:26:08.160 But there's also you know, increasing efforts to bring even 0:26:08.240 --> 0:26:13.320 more UH competition and innovation into the measurement space, and 0:26:13.680 --> 0:26:17.800 you know, the industry is working in a collaborative fashion 0:26:18.359 --> 0:26:24.240 to help influence that and to help UM provide requirements 0:26:24.520 --> 0:26:30.679 and even work through ways that these newer measurement companies 0:26:30.720 --> 0:26:35.119 can have access to capital, etcetera. So UM it continues 0:26:35.160 --> 0:26:38.280 to it continues to be something where I think will 0:26:38.359 --> 0:26:42.480 will see major announcements coming forward. But we are on 0:26:42.520 --> 0:26:46.040 the right path. Yeah, I would agree, I would. I 0:26:46.040 --> 0:26:48.800 would just add to that that I think, you know, 0:26:49.200 --> 0:26:55.760 we're as the evolution continues, I think the the interoperability 0:26:55.840 --> 0:26:59.400 of all of these data sets will will be key. UM. 0:26:59.640 --> 0:27:01.679 I think we're seeing as to mention, I think we're 0:27:01.680 --> 0:27:04.000 seeing a lot of great progress with a lot of 0:27:04.000 --> 0:27:07.320 these data companies, and you know, hopefully we just keep 0:27:07.640 --> 0:27:11.960 keep chipping away at that. I'd love to hear from 0:27:11.960 --> 0:27:15.000 you guys in terms of what you see in the 0:27:15.119 --> 0:27:20.399 coming years, in terms of milestones or benchmarks that you 0:27:20.400 --> 0:27:23.920 guys have your eyes on in terms of moving addressable forward, 0:27:24.040 --> 0:27:26.960 or are there particular goals or ambitions you guys have 0:27:27.000 --> 0:27:29.520