Premium and Live Sports TV Inventory Supply Rapidly Scaling to Meet Growing Agency, Marketer Demand

dataxu, the leading provider of programmatic marketing software for marketing and media professionals, announced a record 40x year over year increase in TV purchased through its TouchPoint DSP in Q1 2018. dataxu’s software enables audience-based TV buying from a range of premium providers, including network groups such as A+E Networks, live TV streaming services including Sling TV, and Video on Demand platforms for movies and TV like Tubi. In addition to long-form TV content, dataxu also provided its customers with access to live sports inventory such as the Winter Olympics, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and the NBA Playoffs in 2018.

dataxu experienced an exponential rise in total available OTT impressions, with more than 11 billion ad opportunities in Q1 2018; notable in a market widely believed to be supply-constrained. This dramatic increase in supply is coupled with new increases in demand from marketers and agencies. According to recent research from Forrester and the ANA, “15% of ANA members report incorporating addressable and advanced TV buying techniques into plans today, with another 20% to 30% testing these approaches this year.”

Also Read: dataxu Appoints TV Veteran Gary Savoy as Vice President of Media

“2018 has already proven to be dramatically different from 2017 in terms of premium OTT inventory availability and demand for that inventory,” said Sandro Catanzaro, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, dataxu. “Our most innovative customers have already embraced OTT in their media plans–in fact, we are regularly seeing the successful delivery of 7-figure budgets–to tap into advanced audience targeting capabilities and supplement traditional TV buys with incremental reach, particularly when advertisers are having trouble reaching younger consumers or occasional TV viewers.”

“Advertisers are searching for innovative, brand-safe ways to reach targeted audiences,” said Adam Lowy, head of Sling TV advertising sales. “Working with Advanced TV leaders like dataxu allows us to give advertisers real-time access to those targeted audiences that aren’t subscribed to traditional TV.”

Also Read: dataxu Announces TotalTV For Media Companies

dataxu has stepped up its advanced TV offerings over the last several years, including through the introduction of its self-service platform for OTT TV buying powered by data from the Oracle Data Cloud, as well as a first-to-market attribution solution, which allows customers to directly tie TV investments to specific business outcomes. In May, dataxu hired a new head of Engineering and CIO, Ben Katz; a technology industry veteran brought on to lead dataxu’s product development, including its Advanced TV product efforts, with a focus on innovation and consumer data privacy.

“The myth that OTT inventory is still scarce or of low quality is just that–a myth, perpetuated by other companies in the space who don’t have their own OTT attribution or inventory systems figured out yet,” continued Catanzaro. “Our customers are jumping in with both feet, as evidenced by the increasing number of customers we’re onboarding daily. We certainly don’t see any sign of demand slowing down.”

Recommended Read: TechBytes with Sandro Catanzaro, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, dataxu