BlackArrow notched a big customer win for its dynamic ad insertion (DAI) in VOD platform with Rogers Communications.
Rogers, Canada’s largest cable operator, started to roll out BlackArrow’s SCTE 130-based dynamic ad insertion system earlier this year and plans on having it available in more of its cable systems later this year.
BlackArrow said the Rogers deployment was the first wide-scale rollout of dynamically inserted mid-roll advertising in North America. Last year, BlackArrow added dynamic mid-roll insertions and application programming interfaces (APIs) to its advanced advertising platform.
In addition to mid-roll, Rogers is also dynamically inserting ads in pre-roll and post-roll on Rogers’ on-demand system.
“The introduction of dynamically inserted advertising solutions within on-demand TV can significantly change the scope of on-demand television in Canada,” said Nick Troiano, president of BlackArrow. “We look forward to working together with Rogers and their programming partners to create a vibrant, industry-leading on-demand environment that can increase content choice, create new advertiser opportunities for engagement with viewers and give Rogers an edge in the competitive video market.”
For Rogers, the BlackArrow system controls the real-time advanced advertising decisions needed to convey playout instructions to downstream video back office and video server systems.
In addition to the DAI components, which include ad decision servers, playlist engines and content information service, BlackArrow is also providing Rogers with real-time, impression-level measurement capabilities that help gauge the performance and delivery of ad campaigns.
Monetizing DAI opportunities in on-demand has been on cable operators’ minds the last few years. BlackArrow was one of the participants in a recent CableLabs interop event for DAI in VOD, while MSO-backed Canoe Ventures announced last month that it was dropping its national EBIF platform to focus on dynamic ad insertions in on-demand. Comcast has also been active on the DAI in VOD front.