• by Alex Weprin , December 19, 2018

The holiday season tends to be a big one for TV and video consumption, with people more inclined to binge-watch shows and watch programming with their families. While platforms like Netflix don’t share viewership numbers, December tends to be a strong month, ratings-wise, for traditional linear TV.

Discovery Inc., for example, saw its consumption increase last year by more than 17% during the holiday season, compared to earlier quarters. Now, Discovery and the video advertising platform SpotX are hoping to capitalize on that bump in viewership through a new partnership.

Under the the terms of the deal, Discovery will run Automated Guaranteed campaigns through SpotX across its entire streaming portfolio of channels, which include the “Go” apps for Discovery Channel, Food Network and HGTV.

Users of Discovery’s suite of apps will be served campaigns dynamically purchased through SpotX, as well as ads sold directly. Discovery will also be able to whitelist and blacklist specific programming, allowing marketers to buy on specific shows or networks.

“This is the time of year when viewers are tied to their TVs and devices consuming content, so it's the perfect chance for advertisers to reach a whole slew of new consumers, many of whom may be cord-cutters or cord-shavers,” Ryan Kenney, vice president, platform services, SpotX, tells Digital News Daily.

He adds the companies tested out the Automated Guaranteed campaigns a few months ago.

Automated Guaranteed programmatic purchases differ slightly from typical programmatic buys in that the publisher or content company has fixed prices and specific time frames around when the ads will run. Marketers have the ability to buy programmatically with guaranteed access to inventory at pre-set prices.

“Automated Guaranteed is a fairly new offering for SpotX. There are benefits for both the supply and demand sides of the business,” Kenney says. “Among them is that Automated Guaranteed campaigns allow publishers to get deals with guaranteed revenue for inventory by blending traditional style sales with the key benefits of programmatic decisions.

These types of campaigns also help publishers with better forecasting year-round, but especially during the most competitive time of year, while giving advertisers guaranteed access to that inventory with a pre-determined price in a transparent environment.”