CTV

BMO analyst Daniel Salmon on Monday initiated coverage of ad tech company Innovid with an “outperform” rating. Citing Innovid’s involvement in the fast growth of connected TV advertising, Salmon set a target price for Innovid stock at $13 a share. Innovid closed last Thursday at $6.98 a share.

When Microsoft on Tuesday announced it would acquire Xandr from AT&T, the companies gave little insight into the nuances of the deal, such as how the technology would integrate into the Microsoft Advertising, and who would spearhead the added services across the advertising business. While the details of the agreement remain unclear, Microsoft’s Rik van der Kooi shared a few insights into what advertisers can expect.

Connected TV has grown to the point where there are 55 million U.S. households that only watch CTV, according to a new study from Magnite. Those 55 million households mean that 40% of U.S. TV homes are reachable exclusively via CTV and not over the air or via traditional pay TV.

Agency media buyers will be able to add CTV to linear campaigns through the platform.

Hearst Television today announced the release of its OTT and CTV channel, “Very Local,” available on popular streaming platforms. The app allows viewers to connect with local news and information relevant to their lives, as well as content from other communities around the U.S.

A new Leichtman Research Group study finds the percentage of U.S. TV households connecting their TV to the internet to watch video has gone down this year, narrowly at least, to 39% from 40% in the pandemic year of 2020.

The deal creates the largest independent CTV and video ad platform. Clients include A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Crackle, Discovery, Fox, fuboTV, LG, Roku, Samsung, Sling TV and Vizio.

Adults spent less time watching video during the third quarter of 2020, but spent a lot more time streaming connected TV, according to the latest Total Audience Report from Nielsen. Nielsen said that the average time spent per day with video fell to 5 hours and 21 second during the third quarter of 2020, compared to 5 hours and 22 second in 2019 and 5 hours and 24 second in 2919.

Another CTV ad fraud scheme has hit servers in recent weeks — the second one discovered this year — with a estimated advertising cost of $5 million per month, according to DoubleVerify. This follows the ParrotTerra scheme discovered in February by DoubleVerify, estimated to have cost a much greater $30 million to $50 million in ad dollars, spoofing some 3.7 million devices.

Advertisers are planning to buy more connected TV and streaming video, and the biggest spenders are looking to offerings from established networks to reach cord-cutters and other over-the-top viewers, according to a new survey from Advertisers Perceptions.

Fox Television Stations’ new FLX service allows advertisers to buy availabilities across its linear TV stations and about 150 OTT and CTV options. The service is now included in Fox’s pre-existing partnership with Mediaocean.

The combined companies will be a big player in the fast-growing  programmatic connected TV marketplace. Combined, CTV net revenue would have been $42 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, up 34% from the third quarter, and represents 67% of their combined fourth quarter net revenue.

YouTube on Thursday announced an update to its global hub for sports content known as Sports. The changes are being made across mobile, desktop and connected TV (CTV). The content will offer clips and highlights from top leagues worldwide, along with exclusive live games and premium content from popular athletes and creators. Videos available are from NFL, La Liga, MLB, NBA and WWE.

With the CTV space growing ever more crowded, Discovery+ launched with a big bet that there’s room for “passing the day” programming on streaming. It’s banking on loyal subs to cut the cord, capturing international audiences and ad-supported tiers and commerce for the win.

Connected TV devices are proving to be a popular gift this holiday season, as Strategy Analytics is reporting that global sales of CTV devices are expected to reach record heights, largely due to both the holidays and people recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scammers are following viewers as they go over the top, and what is described as the largest CTV ad fraud operations so far has been uncovered. Dubbed StreamScam, the operation exploited flaws in CTV ad service technology and spoofed more than 28.8 million U.S. household IP address, including 3,600 apps and 3,400 CTV device models. As much as $15 million worth of ad spending might have been diverted by the scam.

The acquisition will let FreeWheel clients participate more seamlessly in the growing programmatic TV ecosystem.

In a disequilibrium that likely has not existed in the TV advertising marketplace since the early days of cable and syndicated TV, a group of industry executives met Friday to discuss the growing value of the connected TV (CTV) marketplace and concluded that it is dramatically undervalued in terms of advertising market share.

The NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations division signs a multi-year deal with Comcast’s FreeWheel to provide advertisers with full access to NBC Spot On’s premium OTT/CTV inventory.