(L-R) Walter Zinggl, CEO of IP Austria; Dr. Michael Stix, CCO of ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4; and Oliver Böhm, CEO of ORF-Enterprise
In the face of intense competition from international streaming businesses and US-based tech giants, there’s been a lot of talk about the need for cooperation between European broadcasters. Given the threat posed by these companies, there’s a strong argument for broadcasters to put their competitive instincts to one side, pool resources and work together to solve some of the pain points holding back European TV.
For all the talk, it’s rare to see this kind of cooperation put into practice. Granted, sometimes competition regulators (or the threat of regulation) put the brakes on projects before they can take off. But even when this isn’t the case, the reality is that laying down old rivalries is tough. For broadcasters, decades of shared competitive history can be a major stumbling block for cooperation.
A recent example from Austria however provides a good example of how cooperation between broadcasters can work.
Earlier this year, a working group of Austrian TV businesses announced ‘TV-LOAD’, an initiative to enable the real-time optimisation of linear TV advertising, by combining real-time audience measurement with digital delivery of linear TV ads. With these kinds of innovative new capabilities, there can be a temptation for broadcasters to go it alone, in the hope of developing a product before their rivals and establishing a competitive advantage.
But there are significant benefits from the scale and efficiency which come from having the whole market aligned on one product or methodology. And that’s what the Austrian market has achieved, with ATV, IP Österreich, ORF, ORF-Enterprise, Goldbach, ServusTV and ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4 all signed up to TV-LOAD.
Proving the value of local
TV-LOAD was born out of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft TELETEST (AGTT), the Austrian JIC responsible for the Teletest measurement tool, as well as TV-Insight (a measurement JV between the AGTT and Red Bull) and ProSiebenSat.1-owned ad tech business Virtual Minds.
TV-LOAD uses data from Teletest 2.0, which combines Teletest’s existing panel-based data with return path data from over 1.1 million HbbTV-enabled TVs in Austria, to measure total TV viewing. These two datasets combined help show the size and demographic makeup of each TV channel’s audience in real-time. This in turn enables buyers to target ad breaks based on this real-time data, rather than on forecast data. Ad breaks are built, optimised and delivered by Virtual Minds’s Media Manager, its programmatic tool for one-to-many media.
Executives from broadcasters involved in the AGTT told VideoWeek that TV-LOAD could bring substantial benefits to Austria’s TV market.
For one, it will help fix some of the long-standing difficulties associated with panel-based TV buying. Walter Zinggl, CEO of IP Austria, said the tool will get rid of ‘zero ratings’, which occur in panel-based measurement where no panellists tune into a particular channel. More broadly, the larger dataset will stabilise programme and ad reach figures, which can be quite volatile when measured solely by a panel, and also demonstrate performance during ad breaks thanks to the real-time data. It will also help advertisers more accurately reach their specific target audience, which Zinggl described as “a very old demand from advertisers”.
For local broadcasters competing with international giants, having more granular data on TV audiences makes it easier to compete. Dr. Michael Stix, CCO of ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4, emphasised the importance of local agencies in helping navigate local markets. And putting more accurate and granular data in the hands of these agencies makes their job easier.
TV-LOAD will also help bring TV booking more in line with systems typically used for digital campaigns, helping meet marketers’ modern requirements around flexibility and ease of use. For buyers taking a ‘total video’ approach, looking to run unified campaigns across TV and digital video campaigns, TV-LOAD makes things simpler.
“What we have achieved in Austria with TV-LOAD is transferring digital logic to TV advertising”, said Oliver Böhm, CEO of ORF-Enterprise. “This combines the advantages of TV and digital advertising, as large reach is booked based on current viewer-ratings according to criteria that are common in digital marketing. In this respect, we believe that this new kind of booking will be very attractive for many of our customers.”
Partnerships crucial for success
Böhm added that ultimately, the market will decide how quickly this new kind of booking establishes itself in Austria. But undoubtedly, the fact that buyers can book the same way across the majority of the Austrian TV market will be a massive help.
Susanne Koll, president of Austrian media agency trade association IGMA, said that media agencies “highly value” the collaboration between Austria’s broadcasters. “To transition from traditional TV planning to a more comprehensive broadcast/video planning approach that aligns with current usage behaviour, it is crucial to have a unified measurement currency across all broadcasters in the market.”
Several of the executives VideoWeek spoke with said that the Austrian market has fostered a spirit of cooperation between competitors. “In Austria, we stand for the power of cooperation in the media market with our great partners,” said ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4’s Stix, who mentioned several other collaborative initiatives created by Austria’s broadcasters. “We firmly believe that a strong media market can only be created with trusting partnerships between market participants”.
All of the broadcasters involved in TV-LOAD also acknowledged the truth that bringing about a big market transition, and all the benefits it brings for both the buy-side and the sell-side, needs everyone to be on board. That acknowledgement, ultimately, helped kick start collaboration.
“TV marketers are united by the goal of driving innovation in the media market, despite the competitive environment,” said ORF-Enterprise’s Oliver Böhm. “A fundamental change in current processes and systems can only be achieved together. That is why it was and is important that the entire TV market stands behind this innovation. Only with standardised logics and booking options across all sales houses will TV-LOAD be accepted by TV buyers.”
IP Austria’s Walter Zinggl agreed. “Advertisers and agencies would never accept an individual ‘walled garden’ solution of a single broadcaster. Nevertheless, it took us six years from the very first idea – and I’m happy those years are now behind us!”
