DISH Media announced that Sling TV’s dynamic ad insertion into live streaming TV helped triple its advertising revenue in 2018. Sling saw significant growth in key focus areas enabled by DAI including targeted addressable advertising, particularly in cross-platform campaigns that are delivered to both Sling TV and DISH TV audiences with a single buy.

“Targeted addressable advertising continues to grow, and we’ve delivered more than 1.3 billon cross-platform addressable impressions in the last year,” said Kevin Arrix, DISH Media SVP. “We think of cross-platform a bit differently than some in the industry. Cross-platform across DISH and Sling is about your ad appearing during premium content on the largest screen in the house, extending the audience footprint with more eyeballs and more households, leading to more customers for a brand.”

“Before Sling launched, we committed to build the best DAI technology to drive a more tailored experience for both brands and consumers,” said Warren Schlichting, president of Sling TV. “Inserting ads real-time into a live stream across multiple networks proved to be complex, but we continued to iterate and innovate to offer a premium advertising experience that marketers seem to appreciate. That revenue is a key contributor to the Sling’s business model to deliver choice, flexibility and best value to consumers.”

DAI is allowing DISH to expose its inventory to programmatic buyers, attracting digital ad budgets that weren’t traditionally spent on TV, said Arrix, adding, “The lines between digital and TV are blurring.”

Programmatic purchasing on Sling saw close to fivefold growth in 2018, contributing to the more than 7,500 individual brands that aired advertisements on Sling’s inventory last year.