• by Tobi Elkin , Staff Writer @tobielkin, November 16, 2015

SpotX, the video inventory management platform, is looking to make it easier for publishers to monetize their Apple TV apps with high-CPM video ads. Today, it launched a software development kit (SDK) for Apple’s new connected TV system, tvOS.

Essentially, the SDK will enable publishers to program when and how ads play in their Apple TV app, as well as employ a cross-screen monetization strategy via the same SpotX platform that manages desktop, mobile and other connected TV environments. 

The SDK release will enable third-party developers to bring new experiences to the big screen. For publishers, Apple’s tvOS allows complete control over the monetization of video advertising served through the over-the-top device. SpotX’s SDK allows publishers to independently monetize their Apple TV apps, and choose when and how ads play, according Allen Klosowski,vice president of mobile & connected devices, SpotX.

“We expect most publishers with strong media brands to extend their experiences to Apple TV in the near future to reach new and existing audiences,” Klosowski said in a release. “They’re now able to develop for the Apple TV just like they would for iOS, meaning they can take advantage of the power of big-screen video teamed with the targeting and measurability of digital.”  SpotX’s Klosowski noted that Apple TV lacks support for an authentic browsing experience, which means brands focus less on direct response and more on message retention and brand lift through video storytelling.

SpotX’s SDK will enable ads on the Apple TV system to be sold both direct and programmatically, in conjunction with desktop and mobile pre-roll, app interstitial, and out-stream ad units, via SpotX’s platform.

The new toolset is significant as connected TV (CTV) penetration increases. By 2018, 75% of U.S. homes will have CTVs, according to eMarketer.

 “The Programmatic Living Room,"  a TubeMogul report released in October, found that viewability and completion rates on the CTV format average over 85%. “By making more connected TV ads available for automated buying, SpotX will help us unleash demand as brand advertisers turn to TubeMogul to unify buying across screens,” Vice President of Research for TubeMogul Taylor Schreiner said at the time of the report’s publication.