Xandr

As the television industry looks for better ways to measure viewers, NBCUniversal wants the audience metrics used to buy and sell advertising to take into account the quality of the video and how much it engages consumers. NBCU on Wednesday is holding its annual pre-upfront presentation highlighting its data and technology capabilities for advertisers. This year’s event is called One23.

Kroger Precision Marketing, the retail media business of supermarket giant Kroger, has opened its programmatic marketplace, enabling video and connected TV buyers to target ads using shopping data on consumer packaged goods. The data is being made available to advertisers through inventory suppliers including Magnite, OpenX, PubMatic and Xandr.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Xandr from AT&T has officially closed, the company announced Monday, allowing the company to build up its ad business — particularly in connected television and linking it to search advertising. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but reports estimate the price at about $1 billion.

Building on more TV measurement tests from TV advertising sellers, Xandr, the advanced advertising/marketplace unit now owned by Microsoft, announced it has struck deals with six measurement companies in preparation for the upfront TV market. Comscore, EDO, Samba TV, TVision, VideoAmp, and 605 will work with Xandr’s buy- and sell-side advanced TV platforms — Invest TV and Monetize TV.

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.

AT&T today said it’s agreed to sell its global programmatic advertising marketplace, Xandr to Microsoft.  It said the agreement builds on a decade-long relationship between Xandr, including its predecessor companies, and Microsoft in the sector.

AT&T is exploring the potential sale of its digital advertising operations, a sign the telecommunications company is curbing its ambitions to become a force on Madison Avenue, according to people familiar with the matter. AT&T acquired the biggest component of those operations, AppNexus, for about $1.6 billion in 2018 under a plan to challenge heavyweights such as Google owner Alphabet Inc. for a piece of the multibillion-dollar digital ad marketplace.

Kirk McDonald (left) is leaving AT&T’s advanced advertising unit, Xandr, to become CEO of North America for WPP’s GroupM ad-buying unit. He’s being succeeded as head of Xandr by Mike Welch, currently the unit’s EVP of product and business development.

AT&T is moving its ad-tech business Xandr into WarnerMedia, a little more than a month after its CEO Brian Lesser abruptly resigned. WarnerMedia CFO  Gerhard Zeiler will now be in charge of all advertising across AT&T. ​Xandr’s Chief Business Officer Kirk McDonald will continue to lead Xandr, reporting directly to Zeiler.

Brian Lesser, chief executive of AT&T Inc’s advertising unit Xandr, has resigned, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, raising questions about the future of its advanced advertising strategy.

The CW, Tastemade, AccuWeather and Microsoft Advertising have joined Community, a video advertising marketplace launched by Xandr, AT&T’s advertising and analytics division. Other Community partners include WarnerMedia’s CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, B/R Live, Otter Media and Warner Bros. along with A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Cheddar, Bloomberg, Vudu, VICE, Hearst Magazines, Newsy, Philo, Tubi and Xumo.

Xandr, AT&T’s ad-tech unit, officially unveiled its new pause ads during CES this week, and is now actively marketing the format to brands. Epix, Starz and AT&T Mobility are among the beta partners running pause ads that have been appearing on AT&T Now and DirecTV since the fourth quarter.

AT&T Xandr advertising unit said it acquired Clypd, adding more advanced TV capabilities to its existing digital and addressable business. Clypd is used by broadcast and cable programmers to serve relevant advertising to viewers using audience and other data.

AT&T’s Turner networks and advertising business Xandr said Tuesday they have begun using the wireless carrier’s customer data to help advertisers better reach audiences across Turner brands like CNN and TBS on TV and over digital platforms.