• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 1, 2009

Cablevision's AMC is the first publicly identified network to have engaged in a trial with Canoe Ventures in its effort to launch addressable advertising on a national level. Trials have been ongoing since November.

The details are unclear -- including when, for what client(s) and how successful it may have been. But the network known for drama "Mad Men" apparently tried to beam different ads into different homes at the same time. Canoe calls that opportunity Community Addressable Messaging.

CAM was to be fully up and running last month, but the launch has been delayed. Canoe had previously declined to cite a network willing to try the system, but it had said some were on board.

Last week, Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, said at an investor event that AMC is among a small group that is breaking the ice and tinkering with the CAM opportunity.

Canoe is funded by the six largest cable operators, including Comcast and Cablevision, which owns the ad-supported WE entertainment network as well as AMC.

CAM has the potential to offer a chance at "split copy." So, during the same 30-second interval, an advertiser could beam one spot into high-income homes, while a different one runs simultaneously in less affluent households.

Access to the Canoe owners' 60 million set-top boxes gives the company some of the infrastructure to potentially do this.