At NAB Show New York, Pearl TV, the coalition of U.S. broadcast companies transitioning to NEXTGEN TV, announced expanded support for digital video advertising technology in its Web TV platform, RUN3TV. It brings digital advertising capabilities equivalent to the web and connected TV, and is a key driver for broadcaster’s return on investment in NEXTGEN TV services.
Now with more monetization opportunities, broadcasters deploying NEXTGEN TV gain a critical time-to-revenue advantage.
“Adding digital monetization capabilities creates a game changing opportunity for over-the-air broadcast services,” stated Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV. “Expanding on the unique ability to deliver hybrid television service and better engage with their viewers, broadcasters are easily able to integrate with their existing over-the-air and connected TV monetization platforms.”
RUN3TV was built to support NEXTGEN TV, otherwise known as ATSC 3.0, and bring content to life through two-way web interactivity. As NEXTGEN TV has reached an inflection point—now reaching 55% of U.S. households, approximately 120 television models available at retail, and a growing device ecosystem—NEXTGEN TV gives broadcasters the ability to directly engage with their viewers via their broadcaster applications supported by RUN3TV Web TV Platform.
A first-of-its-kind solution, RUN3TV has incorporated the commonly used server-side ad insertion (SSAI) model, including client-side reporting. SSAI is used to enable video advertising in many IP content distribution scenarios including over-the-top (OTT), connected TV (CTV), advertising-based video on demand (AVOD), free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) and IP broadcast channels. RUN3TV’s SSAI implementation includes the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s video ad serving template (VAST), dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH) ad insertion specifications and the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard.
“NEXTGEN TV is building an active, connected and digital audience using the same interactive technology of ad platforms and privacy models already in use in digital environments,” said Robert Folliard, senior vice president, government relations and distribution at Gray Television. “By 2024, there will be 10 million addressable over-the-air households in the U.S. There’s a plethora of opportunities for broadcasters with RUN3TV—think of it as web pages over the air that are completely customizable. I am excited to see how broadcasters will lean in on this new capability, engage with the platform and harness a new revenue stream.”
Integrations are in progress with broadcasters’ ad tech partners that support SSAI, including Google Ad Manager, Madhive, Amazon AWS Media Tailor, Magnite, Springserve and Freewheel. Broadcasters that use these ad tech partners have deployed NEXTGEN TV applications in 25 markets.
“Connected TVs continue to be a driving force behind turning the TV screen into a full-funnel marketing tool, bringing together the premium environment of television with all the tools digital has and more,” said Adam Helfgott,CEO at Madhive. “Now, with NEXTGEN TV and the RUN3TV framework, we can bring these capabilities to over-the-air delivery, so that broadcasters can leverage our high-fidelity technology, such as our proprietary connected TV device graph of 100 million households, to deliver local-at-scale precision.”
About NEXTGEN TV
NEXTGEN TV is a broadcast technology standard, otherwise known as ATSC 3.0, and is the first major overhaul to the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s (ATSC’s) standard for receiving over-the-air (OTA) signals since ATSC 1.0 was introduced in 1996. NEXTGEN TV is based on internet protocol technology for interactivity, presenting the best combination of online and broadcast television, and continued innovation as new services are developed.
NEXTGEN TV delivers stunning 4K, High Dynamic Range (HDR) video, enhanced internet content on demand, and better audio enabled by Dolby Audio technologies, which includes movie theater-quality sound, added voice clarity provided by Dolby’s Voice +, and consistent volume across channels.
Broadcasters and consumer electronics manufacturers will build on the success of the new standard and introduce a NEXTGEN TV holiday brand marketing campaign to deepen consumer awareness and engagement. The television campaign will commence across the U.S. late November 2022 and run through February 2023.
About Pearl TV
Pearl TV is a business organization of U.S. broadcast companies with a shared interest in exploring forward-looking broadcasting opportunities, including innovative ways of promoting local broadcast TV content and developing digital media and wireless platforms for the broadcast industry. Pearl’s membership, comprising more than 820 TV stations, includes eight of the largest broadcast companies in America: Cox Media Group, Graham Media Group, Gray Television, Hearst Television Inc., Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, the E.W. Scripps Company, and TEGNA Inc.
