Watchwith Acquires ARRIS's Media Analysis Framework, Enhances Data Capabilities

Watchwith, a platform for native digital advertising, announced the acquisition of ARRIS’s Media Analysis Framework (MAF) today.

The MAF automates the production of metadata in digital video, adding tags, analyzing and describing a video at a frame level.

“The software analyzes the video at a frame-by-frame level -- runs a multipass process of video, audio, language parsing and statistical analysis and ultimately begins pattern recognition within those multiple passes,” says Watchwith CEO Zane Vella.

Several of the engineers who developed the MAF for ARRIS are joining Watchwith as part of the acquisition.

Watchwith uses the metadata in videos to insert ads as a non-interruptive overlay.

Until now, Watchwith has been entering its own metadata manually for its video partners. With the purchase of MAF, the company has opened up a path to scale that was previously unavailable. As Vella puts it, it unlocks the value of premium video context.

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The solution works with both pre-recorded and live video.

Vella says that some of the publishers Watchwith works with have seen CPMs equal to that of interstitial ads, making the overlay format a competitive one in some markets.

MAF also has other, more sophisticated capabilities.

“It’s able to recognize when a scoreboard is on screen and add a digital extension to the scoreboard for the viewer. It can recognize key moments in a program,” says Vella. “MAF is able to analyze the content of the program and identify the areas onscreen where it is appropriate to deliver an ad.”

Watchwith has seen broad appeal and adoption across the spectrum of network groups, from Fox, NBCUniversal and Viacom to premium pure-play digital video publishers.

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