feature iptv
targeted ads at the edge of the network enabling it to attract the attention of
Positive prospects
before delivering programmes to more advertisers and halt defection to
subscribers. The CapEx cost per the Web.
Addressable advertising services over
subscriber to deliver ads is optimised, as From the operator’s perspective,
IPTV networks are feasible today and
are network manageability and control. moving to a wholesale delivery model
have been in active deployment in the
Verification, monitoring and reporting
Addressable
can be lucrative. Content providers have
United States for several years, with
capabilities are also superior to those in
advertising
to provide available time slots for
significant sums of money already being
CPE approaches. For example,
services over
advertising. This entails marking off
generated. According to research from
advertisers are interested in the ad space within content streams to enable
IPTV networks
PacketVision, the revenue opportunities
viewing data by different demographic the operator to insert ads, using splicing
from addressable advertising on IPTV
and geographic groups. This information are feasible techniques to target specific regions.
will be about US$1.6 billion in the
will eventually lead to more effective
today and
This practice can be lucrative for
United States, US$500 million for France
interactive applications like television
have been in
operators who might conservatively
and US$250 million for Spain, by 2011.
commerce (t-commerce).
active
expect to generate US$5-6 a month of
This new approach to advertising
The edge of the network is also the
deployment
incremental revenue per user for
offers benefits to operators, content
best place to control personalisation in regionally or demographically-targeted
line with network conditions. An in the United
providers and consumers alike. It is
ad placement.
better for viewers to see commercials
intelligent edge can default to regional
States for In addition, service providers like
for products and services that are
ads as networks become congested, or
several years,
BigBand Networks can support not just
relevant and tailored to their individual
deliver more personalisation as access
with
the traditional SCTE 30 ad server
areas of interest. For the content
network bandwidth becomes available.
significant
approach, but also the emerging SCTE
providers, the extra revenue generated
130 standard that helps to support this
The wholesale ad model
sums of
can fuel additional content creation.
new wholesale business model and at
For telecom operators, the potential
money the same time achieve CapEx savings
benefits are even more far-reaching.
While putting in place a network infra-
already being
and ad campaign flexibility. This new
Despite being recent entrants to the
structure to deliver targeted advertising
generated.
standard has helped television
world of video service provision, they
is critical to the whole process, the
According to
advertising evolve from a monolithic to
are particularly well-suited to the
choice of ad delivery model is equally
research from
a distributed model, such that the
delivery of addressable advertising. With
important. The implementation process business entity that inserts ads can be
is clear enough: targeted advertising is
PacketVision,
the ability to choose ads per subscriber
different from the one that sells,
based on specific geographic,
achieved by inserting specific ad clips
the revenue chooses or schedules ads.
demographic, contextual or behavioural
into the available programmes before
opportunities
With this distributed model in place,
information, telecoms operators could
they are delivered.
from
operators can begin moving from a
fetch higher average revenue per user
Operators can send targeted ads to
addressable
traditional advertising strategy to a
from targeted IPTV ad revenue. It also
subscribers in specific regions, zones, or more closely-targeted approach.
demographic groups, for example, and
advertising on
gives them the opportunity to optimise
revenues, by selling a specific slot to
even to individual television sets, with IPTV will be From zoning to interactivity
multiple advertisers.
many advertisements simultaneously
about US$1.6 Local advertising can be expanded
sharing one available spot. As viewers
billion in the
On the road to full addressability,
through telcos' existing yellow page and
watch the same programme streams,
United States,
operators typically first opt for zoning.
directory services. Recent market data
they will be viewing different ad clips.
US$500
Using the wholesale ad model,
shows a rapid shift of paper advertising
However, in order to access the operators could start with a city-by-city
revenues they generate from million for
dollars into other advertising media.
methodology, or jump to a
Operators are well-positioned to
addressable advertising, telcos need to
France and neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood
capitalise on this trend, since they
have first worked out an appropriate
US$250
strategy. From the operator’s
typically already have local advertising
business model and installed an
million for
perspective, the more granular the
teams and relationships with local
appropriate traffic & billing infrastructure.
Spain, by
approach the more expensive it will be
businesses.
A new wholesale ad delivery model to configure the network to deliver the
has recently emerged in which the
2011.
In addition, advertisers are
requisite functionality.
increasingly focused on ad effectiveness
content provider makes it possible for Once zoning is in place, the operator
and demanding results on their ad
the IPTV delivery operator to carry out can provide feedback on the viewership
campaigns. While protecting personally-
the ad insertion process. As is the case within each zone to the advertiser.
identifiable information, telecoms
in the traditional retail model, the Operators can, for example, gauge the
operators can provide valuable feedback
content provider still decides on which number of viewers who tuned into a
to advertisers on the effectiveness of
ads to use or which markets and particular channel and the number of
their ads.
therefore continues to sell the ad people within a particular
Coupled with this, the growth in their
inventory. And the operator can send neighbourhood or postal code who
subscriber base from deploying
back information to the content provider viewed a specific ad. The level of
addressability could positively contribute
about the number of viewers. feedback will of course depend on
to better competitiveness against cable
So, instead of placing one ad for the prevailing privacy regulations.
operators, satellite operators and
whole of a country, for example, The next stage typically is to move to
Internet video providers and, in turn,
content providers can place individual full addressability and, ultimately,
attract more advertisers and marketers.
ads in individual towns or interactivity. This phased approach
For the telco community, addressable
neighbourhoods or even target them as allows the operator to mitigate risk by
advertising may well turn IPTV from a
specific demographic groups. ensuring that the business model works
service with potential to one capable of
As a result, the content provider’s and that the necessary authorisation has
delivering sustained commercial
‘product’ is now much more refined, been received from the provider.
success.
26 l ibe l January/February 2009 l www.ibeweb.com
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