NBC, Cox: Dynamic Ad Inserts Add Value

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Cox and NBC started another test in which TV commercials of traditional TV will resemble those on the Internet -- commercials will be continually refreshed with no fast-forwarding function.

The trial, which was originally conceived months ago, is working with a large, unnamed advertiser for Cox video-on-demand service in its Phoenix area system. Two NBC shows are in the test: NBC's "The Office" and USA Network's "Monk."

Both shows are available through Cox's MyPrimetime, a category of its overall On Demand service, which provides access to network shows starting the day after they air.

During the trial, up to four ads and/or promos in both programs are refreshed several times per week, including ads at the beginning of the program as well as ads within the program. This is the second such test of Cox's "dynamic ad insertion" system. A trial earlier this year was done in Kansas. It tested dynamic ad insertion with Cox-owned Travel Channel for its video-on-demand content.

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"The capabilities for dynamic ad insertion have been proven, and there is significant value for the entire cable and advertising ecosystem -- something we expect to confirm during the current trial with NBC Universal," said David Porter, vice president of advertising product development for Cox Media, the ad-selling division of Cox Communications, which represents 23 U.S. markets.

Recently, Cox announced it was adding "The Office", "30 Rock," "Community," "Parks and Recreation," "Mercy" and "Heroes" to its on-demand service.

1 comment about "NBC, Cox: Dynamic Ad Inserts Add Value".
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  1. Howie Goldfarb from Blue Star Strategic Marketing, November 18, 2009 at 9:39 a.m.

    Media/Content Providers should be able to prevent the fast forwarding through commercials to shore up their revenues. This will enable better content creation via bigger budgets. There was a successful business model where Brands paid a certain price to send commercials into your TV that did not require anyone to watch them. Even though DVR's allowed the same people would most likely wouldn't watch them, to fast forward and skip these commercials, Brands demanded lower CPM's. Lowering revenues for the Media/Content creator/providers. The ironic thing is Brands were ok making believe people who weren't watching commercials were watching because of lack of proof and paying for these ghost viewers. But once they had proof they demanded lower CPM's. So lets just give them back the ghosts! As consumers who benefit we should all be ok with that and just go back to switching channels, going potty, or to the fridge if they were the ghosts.

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