NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FOX, NBCUniversal, and Viacom today unveiled OpenAP 2.0, expanding the advanced audience platform into a centralized premium video marketplace with workflow automation for national linear and long-form digital video, developed in collaboration with Accenture and FreeWheel. This major development will go live in time for Fall 2019 campaigns.
In a joint statement, Meredith Brace, Executive Vice President of Client Solutions and Portfolio Marketing, FOX; Krishan Bhatia, Executive Vice President of Business Operations and Strategy, NBCUniversal; and John Halley, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Ad Solutions, Viacom, said: "We're thrilled to bring to market our latest iteration of OpenAP, which fundamentally transforms the way that advertisers can transact to deliver holistic advanced audience campaigns from start to finish on both linear and long-form digital platforms, in collaboration with Accenture and FreeWheel. OpenAP was the TV industry’s first open platform for cross-publisher audience targeting and independent third-party posting, and this is a major step in furthering our mission to bring the industry together to make audience buying more transparent, consistent, and effective."
With OpenAP 2.0, buyers will now be able to build consistent, cross-publisher audience segments for both national linear and long-form digital video, and submit orders to activate these segments through a centralized cross-publisher marketplace. Built in collaboration with Accenture and FreeWheel, OpenAP 2.0 will be accessible at OpenAP.tv and via APIs for agency planning systems and approved DSPs. In addition, OpenAP 2.0 will provide cross-publisher analytics for a unified view of advanced audience campaigns, with comprehensive pre-campaign performance projections and post-campaign delivery metrics, including total unduplicated reach, overall tCPM, and total audience impressions.
“Advanced targeting, transparency and simplicity are critical to our clients. OpenAP enables advertisers access to advanced audiences at scale with the highest quality TV content available across screens. FOX and the other members of OpenAP are committed to driving open standards that are essential to the success of our brand and agency partners,” said Marianne Gambelli, President, Advertising Sales, FOX.
“With competition rising in every industry, marketers need new ways to define their audience and engage viewers across all platforms. Expanding OpenAP can help turn that vision into a reality. Krishan Bhatia and a group of industry leaders are creating solutions that will benefit the entire advertising ecosystem, and that should be commended,” said Linda Yaccarino, Chairman, Advertising and Client Partnerships, NBCUniversal.
“We’re incredibly proud of the pioneering work that our team and OpenAP partners have accomplished in unifying and standardizing the television business. OpenAP’s evolution into a transactional platform is intended to simplify activation for our brand and agency partners, which we believe will significantly impact the scale of advanced advertising moving forward. We couldn’t be more excited,” said Sean Moran, Head of Ad Solutions, Viacom.
Launched in 2017, OpenAP was founded to make it easier for advertisers to reach unified custom audience segments across TV publishers by delivering consistency and standardization with secure segment sharing and independent measurement. Members of OpenAP include FOX, NBCUniversal, Viacom, and Univision.
About OpenAP
Founded by a consortium of television publishers and operated by a leading, neutral third-party auditor, OpenAP simplifies audience-based media buying. Within our respective companies, we are at the forefront of the evolution of TV, creating advanced, data-driven products that help advertisers move beyond basic demographics and into advanced audience targeting. However, while demand for audience targeting has grown significantly, adoption has been limited by the industry’s failure to make audience buying as transparent and easy as traditional guarantees. OpenAP was our response to a clear industry need that required collective action. For more information, visit www.openap.tv.
About Fox Corporation
Fox Corporation produces and distributes compelling news, sports and entertainment content through its iconic domestic brands including: FOX News, FOX Sports, the FOX Network, and the FOX Television Stations. These brands hold cultural significance with consumers and commercial importance for distributors and advertisers. The breadth and depth of our footprint allows us to deliver content that engages and informs audiences, develops deeper consumer relationships and creates more compelling product offerings. FOX maintains an impressive track record of news, sports, and entertainment industry success that will shape our strategy to capitalize on current strengths and invest in new initiatives. For more information about Fox Corporation, please visit www.FoxCorporation.com.
About NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. To learn more, visit: www.nbcuniversal.com.
About Viacom
Viacom creates entertainment experiences that drive conversation and culture around the world. Through television, film, digital media, live events, merchandise and solutions, our brands connect with diverse, young and young at heart audiences in more than 180 countries. For more information on Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com. Keep up with Viacom news by following us on Twitter (twitter.com/viacom), Facebook (facebook.com/viacom) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/viacom).