• Television Week, Monday, February 6, 2006 11:01 AM

Several VOD networks, seeing both a need and an opportunity, are moving forward with plans to establish their own advertising upfronts, beginning this year.  Emily Olman, national ad manager for Anime Network, which launched in 2002, tells TV Week that "she'd like to create new standards for the way VOD ads are valued, such as by cost per thousand impressions, unique impressions or guarangeed impressions." The problem with the current model--charging on a cost-per-impression basis--"is that programmers arrive at that count in different ways," writes Daisy Whitney of TV Week.  "An impression could mean an ad has been viewed in its entirety or in part.  It could also mean that two bookended ads were lumped together in one impression."  In addition to Anime Network, RipeTV and Music Choice are working on plans to create a more efficient marketplace for selling advertising into the rapidly rising VOD segment.  "There are great inefficiencies in the... on-demand marketplace right now... that a savvy advertiser can take advantage of to achieve favorable pricing and sponsorship elements," says Rob Aksman, director of creative development for BightLine Partners, an on-demand marketing firm. Citing an industry source, TV Week's Whitney says, "Having a blank slate is useful for now as the business evolves, but as VOD advertising becomes more mainstream there will need to be standards and practices to give agencies a consistent way to evaluate all VOD channels."

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