SpotX and fuboTV Join Forces for Programmatic Monetization of OTT Content

fuboTV Would Leverage SpotX’s Robust Monetization Capabilities for OTT Content, Massive Scale, and Deep Agency Relationships Throughout 2018

Barely weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics 2018, SpotX has announced a strategic partnership with fuboTV, the leading sports-first streaming TV service. Through this partnership, the leading video ad serving platform is powering the programmatic monetization of fuboTV’s live, over-the-top (OTT) content – including more channels that carry sports in a base package than any similar service.

The latest SpotX news comes just days after the leading video ad serving platform appointed

IAB Singapore board member, Gavin Buxton, as the Asia MD. On January 9, SpotX launched an interoperability with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to power server-side insertion for streaming video advertisements with the AWS Elemental MediaTailor service. Both events leading up to the SpotX-fuboTV integration would enable the company to lead a very holistic inventory management in the OTT video space, allowing the clients to fully monetize streaming video across platforms.

Adobe Ad Cloud is among the first demand-side platforms (DSP) integrated with fuboTV to transact programmatically through SpotX, generating the most revenue from the alliance to date, and average view to completion rates of more than 97 percent.

At the time of this announcement, Andy Hammond, VP, sales at fuboTV, said, “In today’s fully automated advertising ecosystem, it’s increasingly important for us to find the right technology partner that can streamline the programmatic monetization process. We continue to be extremely impressed by SpotX’s robust monetization capabilities, massive scale, and deep agency relationships, and look forward to working more closely together throughout 2018.”

The new integration with SpotX is expected to increase fuboTV’s market share by giving more brands, agencies, and trading desks unparalleled access to sports fans streaming fuboTV’s live content across connected TV, mobile, and desktop.

fuboTV previously monetized content primarily through subscriptions but turned on ads this past summer. Due to early success, fuboTV made its live ad insertion technology available to advertisers via direct buy campaigns. After a comprehensive evaluation process, fuboTV ultimately chose SpotX as its designated supply-side platform (SSP) for both private marketplace and open exchange traded campaigns.

More than 150 national brands purchased fuboTV’s advertising inventory programmatically during the fourth quarter of last year, double Q3 2017. Additionally, 50 of the top 100 spending U.S. advertisers now run campaigns on fuboTV via SpotX.

fuboTV is one of the fastest-growing OTT services in the country, due to a line-up of live channels that brings viewers coverage of marquee sports events, as well as popular news and entertainment programming. This includes access to channels that collectively telecast more than 30,000 live sporting events per year, from the NFL playoffs, Super Bowl LII and the 2018 Winter Olympics to the FIFA World Cup, NHL, NBA, MLB, UFC, the Kentucky Derby, Tour de France, the most watched soccer leagues in the U.S. (La Liga, EPL, Liga MX, MLS, Bundesliga) and much more.

Ryan Kenney, VP of Platform Services at SpotX, said, “Live OTT as a medium is becoming more and more important to advertisers and fuboTV obviously has their finger on the pulse of what’s to come for sports fans. We’re excited to help drive monetization for fuboTV’s unique content portfolio and the unparalleled consumer engagement that sports programming offers brands.”

SpotX will also enable fuboTV to dynamically target audiences by a variety of different data segments including live vs. VOD, DMA, device, and language. In addition, fuboTV is leveraging SpotX’s demand facilitation services to connect premium brands with the service’s niche inventory. fuboTV has seen private marketplace deals increase an average of 55 percent monthly via SpotX.

Currently, SpotX is the leading video ad serving platform providing media owners with monetization tools for desktop, mobile, and connected devices. The platform features modern ad serving and programmatic infrastructure, and other monetization tools, like solutions for OTT and outstream video ad units. SpotX gives publishers the control, transparency and actionable insights needed to understand buyer behavior, manage access and pricing, and maximize revenue.