Addressable TV gets a boost as Nielsen buys Sorensen Media

Nielsen announced Thursday that it will acquire Sorensen Media as a step toward providing an end-to-end addressable TV ad delivery solution. The global analytics company also unveiled its Advanced Video Advertising Group, a “technology, product and commercial initiative” focused on the expansion and innovation of addressable TV advertising.

Nielsen plans to combine Sorensen Media’s addressable TV platform with its Gracenote automatic content recognition (ACR) technology to “help deliver on the promise of addressable TV advertising.”

Last year, Nielsen launched a five-market addressable TV pilot study with several networks to study user experience and impact on broadcast workflow. The company says they will add Sorensen’s technology to the next phase of that test.

Why you should care

Addressable TV advertising allows marketers to “address” specific consumers with customized advertising messages — nearly 250 million Smart TVs with addressable capabilities are expected in the market by 2023.

“With more devices capable of delivering addressable TV advertising, similar to the digital world, the industry needs an end-to-end, AI-optimized platform that enables ad delivery, data-driven targeting, automation, real-time optimization, unified campaign management, and measurement.  Nielsen is uniquely positioned to help tie all these elements together at scale,” the company said.

“It’s clear that a significant portion of TV advertising will be addressable long into the future,” said David Kenny, CEO of Nielsen.

More about the news

• Nielsen has acquired a number of companies to bolster its addressable offerings, including Smart TV software and privacy management company Qterics and metadata provider Gracenote.
• Kelly Abcarian, general manager of Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising Group said her group was excited to make addressable TV a reality. “Nielsen has the experience and technology to help expand a scalable industry-wide, end-to-end addressable TV advertising solution. And, we can provide a measurement solution that innovates on current approaches with a bridge to the future.”

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About The Author

Robin Kurzer

Robin Kurzer started her career as a daily newspaper reporter in Milford, Connecticut. She then made her mark on the advertising and marketing world in Chicago at agencies such as Tribal DDB and Razorfish, creating award-winning work for many major brands. For the past seven years, she’s worked as a freelance writer and communications professional across a variety of business sectors.