In November, Michael Collins joined Locality as its first Chief Executive Officer, signaling a pivotal new chapter for the company and for the broader local media marketplace. His appointment comes at a time of rapid transformation across the television ecosystem, as streaming and broadcast continue to converge and advertisers demand more unified, performance-driven solutions. Collins shares his perspective on the urgent upgrades needed to modernize local ad buying, the challenges of bridging fragmented platforms, and his vision for transforming local advertising.
From your perspective, what are the most urgent operational or infrastructure upgrades needed to support scalable, data-driven local media?
The current local ad buying “system” remains too siloed. Right now, agency and platform structures are too rigid, organized by channels rather than outcomes. The technology exists to target and measure audiences holistically, but the operations haven’t caught up.
What’s needed now are tools that can unify execution, tools that support open APIs, standardized data formats, and centralized performance views. Advertisers need to rely on an industry-aligned inventory, data, and tech stack to meet the evolving consumer behaviors. We also need to integrate real-time pacing and optimization into the core of local workflows. That feedback loop – seeing what’s working and adjusting on the fly – is what will drive the next leap in performance. This is what we are aiming to achieve.
We also need to integrate real-time pacing and optimization into the core of local workflows. That feedback loop – seeing what’s working and adjusting on the fly – is what will drive the next leap in performance.
As Locality’s first CEO, what’s your vision and top priorities for transforming local advertising in today’s cross-platform landscape?
As consumer behavior, AI, and technology continue to reshape the local advertising ecosystem, the industry must adapt with smarter strategies, stronger data, and more unified solutions to keep pace with emerging opportunities. My vision for Locality is to lead this evolution by transforming what has historically been a fragmented, channel‑centric marketplace into a unified, performance‑driven platform rooted in how consumers engage with media.
Too often, the industry defines itself by broadcast vs. streaming but consumer behavior, and advertisers’ ability to influence that behavior, remains consistent across channels. The immersive nature of sight‑sound‑motion content delivered by television creates moments of unmatched engagement. Locality’s role is to help advertisers engage consumers in these moments.
My top priority is to simplify and modernize the entire local media process, across both broadcast and streaming through a single, streamlined workflow. It operates with the same precision and accountability as national media, while unlocking the unique strength of local: its ability to connect brands with real people, in real communities. When we remove friction and elevate performance, we strengthen local advertising and expand its value for marketers and audiences alike.
Cross-platform fragmentation continues to be a barrier for local advertisers trying to unify campaign planning and performance. What are the biggest challenges in bridging the gap between streaming and broadcast, and where do you see the most room for progress?
The biggest challenge is interoperability, different platforms report different measurement KPIs, and that creates friction for advertisers, planners, marketers, and even us in the industry. When we think about how to bridge broadcast and streaming, we have to think about more than access to inventory and go one step further to think about data, metrics, and KPIs, while also taking into consideration formats, and workflows so that advertisers can execute a campaign once and have it optimized everywhere.
At Locality, we don’t think of ourselves as a broadcast or streaming company, but as a company focused on the unique consumer behaviors in the television environment. That shift in mindset drives how we bridge platforms.
The opportunity lies in using tools like ACR to normalize data across formats. With LocalX, we’ve created a centralized platform that integrates ACR-powered deduplication with unified planning, pacing, and attribution. The broader ecosystem remains fragmented, with varying inventory, data, and reporting standards, but LocalX transforms those disparate inputs into clear, actionable insights. By consolidating campaign activity into one streamlined environment, we’re enabling advertisers to move beyond impression counts and toward real-time performance visibility that drives smarter, faster decisions.
With local measurement still catching up to cross-platform consumption, what will it take for the industry to build the confidence advertisers need to invest at scale in local video?
What’s needed now is a mindset shift, one that moves beyond channel thinking and focuses on audiences and behaviors. The technology to target and measure locally is largely here, but the buying infrastructure hasn’t kept pace. That’s what’s holding us back, not the lack of tools, but the lack of interoperability and standardization across the ecosystem.
Locality is working to change that. We’re investing in our own ID framework, integrating ACR and other data sources, and building platforms like LocalX to make performance not just measurable, but actionable. When advertisers can clearly see who they’ve reached, how it performed, and what to do next, all in one place, that’s what builds confidence.
Ultimately, advertisers want to invest where they can see both scale and relevance. Our job is to make that possible locally, to help them connect with real people, in real communities, with real results. That’s when local moves from a budget line item to a strategic advertising driver.
As local media becomes more digital, how can the ecosystem maintain the trust, relevance, and community impact that have traditionally defined broadcast, while also delivering on the precision and performance metrics buyers now expect?
The heart of local advertising has always been its proximity to people’s lives, its ability to connect with the community in a meaningful way. As we go more digital, that value doesn’t go away, it gets amplified when paired with precision and performance.
When we deliver relevant messages in trusted, local environments, supported by data and dynamic creative, we create a more resonant and measurable impact. Locality is positioned to bring these worlds together: we pair decades of local media expertise with the infrastructure, data, and tools needed to plan, activate, and measure campaigns holistically across platforms.
That’s how we’ll redefine local, not as a media type, but as a powerful strategy for brands of any size to reach and influence consumers with both meaning and precision.
