• by Alex Weprin , April 30, 2019

At its newfront presentation Tuesday evening, Verizon Media laid out a slate of original video programming, while also announcing it will be expanding the audio inventory available through its DSP, thanks to a new integration with AdsWizz.

Podcast, music, talk and radio inventory from Pandora and iHeartRadio will now be available through the Verizon DSP. The deal continues Verizon Media’s strategy of being a scaled omnichannel option for marketers.

The company launched digital-out-of-home offerings on its DSP earlier in April. 

Podcasts are a particularly compelling opportunity for Verizon, given their mobile-first orientation and that the market remains nascent.

Jeff Lucas, Verizon Media head of North American sales-global client solutions, tells Digital News Daily that podcasts present a unique challenge.

“It is a warm feeling, podcasts, it is a feeling of familiarity, of personalization. What we are trying to do there is keep that feeling, but allow the advertiser to basically be part of it, without disrupting what the offering is,” he says.

At the newfront, Verizon Media is leaning into to its DSP, highlighting the scale of the company, the brand safety of its offerings, and that media buyers can buy across channels.

“Whether you want to do video, display, we can offer out-of-home, connected TV and audio,” Lucas says. “Being able to connect everything through the DSP enables advertisers to not just buy, but manage and measure, and to look at this omnichannel grouping and put it together, including native.”

Verizon positions itself as a safer alternative to tech giants like Google and Facebook.

“One of the keys is that it is all professionally produced content, and it is at scale. We are second in scale, basically to Google— especially when you factor in our Microsoft assets, which we represent with us — that is massive scale,” Lucas says. “If you can do that with brand safety, that is different than Google ahead of us, and Facebook right behind us, because that is all UGC [user-generated content].”

The company also announced a slate of original programming at its newfront event. For the upcoming season, Yahoo Sports will integrate live streams of NFL games into its fantasy football app, allowing users to watch games while they track their fantasy team performance. 

Verizon’s Ryot Studios announced a feature-length documentary about nurses at the heart of the HIV/AIDS crisis, called “5B.” Yahoo Finance, meanwhile, announced a slate of new programming.

The company also highlights its 5G efforts, which it expects will lead to more content consumption on its platforms. That, in turn, will lead to better data targeting and expanded audience segments.

Two initiatives that seek to take advantage of 5G were also announced: “Hypezilla,’ which will be a “shoppable” show with an augmented reality application, as well as the Yahoo News XR Journalism Platform. The XR partner platform will work with news organizations like Time, Reuters and USA Today to utilize 5G technology in immersive storytelling formats.