Cynopsis sat down with AT+T AdWorks President Mike Welch to discuss TV advertising and targeting audiences, as well as Otter Media, AT+T’s joint venture with The Chernin Group.

AdWorks takes data from TV, online and mobile channels to help brands appear on multiple screens. Which platform is AT+T emphasizing right now?
Our biggest channel is linear TV, and is by far our biggest focus area right now. With Otter Media, [we plan] to go beyond over-the-top content into TV Everywhere and then into digital.

AdWorks recently introduced a new data source for its TV Blueprint platform including mobile subscriber data and set-top box data. Why do you think this information is so important for advertisers to incorporate?
The methodology we use is what I call “program addressable” targeting – the solution through which you deliver an ad to a specific TV series the targeted audience is most likely watching, but not to the specific household. The enhancements we made include matching a program to a single person household so advertisers get a purer, more exact view of what’s being watched. Additionally, we’re leveraging mobile subscriber data by looking at the device type used in a household, the data usage and contract expiration; all of this tells lot about the viewer and audience.

Digital media advertising sales are expected to surpass those of television by 2018. How are you preparing?
Looking at the future combined company of AT+T and DirecTV – assuming it’s completed – AT+T will have the ability to monetize TVE not just on Uverse but also 21 million DirecTV subscribers, for a total of 27 million subscribers. We have the technology, so when a brand comes to us asking to reach say women ages 18-35 we can provide data from TV, over-the-top and TVE to truly target the right audience.