ProVantageX

Integration of two linear TV platforms seeks to offer fully automated solutions ranging from supply-side to demand-side with the “potential to revolutionize the way stations manage and sell their commercial spots, boosting revenue and increasing labor efficiencies.”

Executives from NBCUniversal Local (Frank Comerford, above), Tegna, Sinclair and Hearst told a TVNewsCheck webinar they’re bedeviled by persistent gaps in the available buying/selling pipeline, which have bogged down the transaction process and added to their expenses. Those woes are leading some broadcasters to bring more of their automated functions in house.

E.W. Scripps draws more than 70% of its national spot revenue from per-performance transactions, one of a handful of station groups that have moved to that model. In a TVNewsCheck webinar last week, executives from Scripps, MagnaGlobal, ProVantageX and Horizon agreed that per-performance campaigns are beneficial for all parties involved.

Leading executives in the spot TV advertising ecosystem will talk about ways to entice a larger number of marketers to invest in local TV during a TVNewsCheck webinar on Aug. 6. The event, which will focus on short- and long-term issues facing the industry, will feature (top, l-r): Frank Friedman, E.W. Scripps; Jane Meyerson, ICON International; Joe Cerone, Zenith; (bottom, l-r):  Rob Weisbord, Sinclair Broadcast Group; Mark Gorman, Matrix Solutions and Ted Kramer, ProvantageX.  Register here.

Per-transaction fees and resistance by walled gardens are hampering the development of tools to streamline the complicated world of buying and selling spot TV advertising.

Sales leaders from a half dozen major TV station groups gathered to talk about the challenges they face competing with an increasingly powerful array of digital giants. Key to their strategy is moving to impressions-based selling and creating an automated pipeline connecting media buyers and TV sales reps and cutting down on the busy work that drives up the costs of transactions. Pictured: Frank Comerford, chief revenue officer, and president, commercial operations, NBCU Owned Television Stations.

Developers of the software or platforms that make automated spot sales possible will be demanding a small percentage of the business they handle, possibly up to 1.5%. With broadcasters’ ringing up several billion in national spot sales each year, the automation fees could quickly run into tens of millions of dollars.

The automation logjam is breaking up with companies like Hudson MX, Videa, WideOrbit and ProVantageX in play. The business has reached a critical mass, according to some observers. But with so many competitors, there’s the likelihood that there will be a winnowing down of platforms with time. And frictions remain to be ironed out — most notably handling makegoods automatically.