• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, May 18, 2012

As cable operators look for ways to further monetize video on demand, Time Warner Cable has a deal to use BlackArrow’s infrastructure to dynamically insert ads in VOD streams. Some say VOD advertising growth has been hampered by advertisers' distaste for leaving an ad in the same program for weeks at a time. Now, a movie company can swap promotions in and out for new releases weekly.

Time Warner Cable is an investor in BlackArrow along with Cisco, Intel and others.

Over time, as operators extend on-demand programming to mobile devices and more people watch that way, the need to upgrade that ad medium will only increase.

Joan Gillman, president of Time Warner Cable Media, stated that the BlackArrow technology will help “lay the foundation for new on-demand business and advertising models, and ultimately we expect that this will extend across a broad spectrum of television distribution platforms and devices.”

TWC will be able to swap ads in and out on VOD platforms across its footprint and in local markets. BlackArrow also has arrangements with Comcast (another investor) and Canadian cable operator Rogers.

BlackArrow has been part of an industry initiative known as the Advanced Advertising Media Project that is conducting research on aspects of VOD. AAMP is trying to nudge the industry into turning VOD into a more viable advertising venue.