Nielsen has launched Nielsen Advanced Video Advertising, tasked with driving the company’s addressability initiatives forward, expanding and innovating addressable advertising for Smart TVs and beyond.  The acquisition of addressable TV technology provider Sorenson Media is intended to accelerate the initiative.  

“It’s clear that a significant portion of TV advertising will be addressable long into the future,” said David Kenny, recently-appointed CEO of Nielsen.  “With the continued evolution of our Total Audience measurement, underpinned by decades of trust, transparency and independence, it was evident that we needed to bring our unique set of technology assets and talent to tackle the greatest challenges the TV advertising industry is facing.  And with the Sorenson Media acquisition, we can create improved value and efficiency across the entire media chain – from ad targeting and delivery to measurement and attribution – and make addressable TV more of a reality.”

Nielsen’s other strategic acquisitions include Qterics, a Smart TV software and privacy management company. And integrated into the firmware layer of millions of Smart TVs, Gracenote’s ACR technology provides the ability for real-time, frame-level ad detection regardless of source or platform.

“The future of TV is addressable,” Kelly Abcarian, General Manager of Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising Group, tells Cynopsis. “With this end-game in mind, Nielsen has made several strategic acquisitions over recent years that, when combined, will serve as the foundation for a new end-to-end addressable advertising platform.  We recently launched an addressable pilot in five markets with CBS, A+E Networks and several other broadcasters to better understand the consumer experience and impact of addressability on broadcasters.  Adding Sorenson’s capabilities to Gracenote’s ACR technology and Qterics’ privacy management platform will enable us to create a powerful solution that will help us deliver on the promise of addressable TV advertising.”