Omnicom's Steuer: OTT Will Force TV's Hand, Enabling Much More Targeted Inventory

The TV industry has been talking about addressability and precision targeting for decades, but the reality is the vast majority of TV advertising buys are still based on old-school boxcar numbers or some version of demographic segmentation of Nielsen ratings. That’s all about to change, according to Omnicom Chief Research Officer Jonathan Steuer.

Speaking on a panel at MediaPost’s TV Insider Summit on Amelia Island, FL, this morning, Steuer said, “I think we’re going to see a lot of change going on over the next three to five years. Mainly because if the traditional TV sources don’t make their inventory available that way, they will get drowned out by over-the-top.”

By over-the-top, Steurer was talking about OTT video services that are beginning to offer the kinds of targeting solutions the traditional TV industry has been promising for years.

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The problem, said Steuer, is that the parts of the TV business that would benefit the most by moving in this direction -- Nielsen ratings-challenged long-tail TV networks -- don’t necessarily have the resources to invest in developing that marketplace.

“The challenge is that on the supply side, the guys who have the inventory don’t have the tools to sell it that way,” he said.

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