CARY, N.C.—The UK's largest commercial broadcaster ITV has released new details on how it is using an API-driven first-party ad server developed by SAS, to deliver personalized advertising to the 40 million registered users of its content hub, ITVX.
A year after its launch, with about 40 million registered viewers, ITVX boasted 2.7 billion streams which was a new record for ITV. Recent successes include the Rugby World Cup streams, which have reached 60 million views - an 80% increase compared to the 2019 tournament.
"When we have a challenge or see an opportunity, we have a conversation with the brilliant minds at SAS," said Alex Maison, head of Digital Ad Platforms, ITV. "We often come back with something better than what we were thinking. We've been able to progress at a great pace and keep ahead of the market because of those conversations."
One of these key innovations is Planet V, ITV's self-serve programmatic platform that provides advertisers with a range of campaign booking options based on show content and audience data. Planet V, self-built by ITV and now the UK's second-largest programmatic platform, is a high-fidelity integration with the SAS 360 Match solution for ad delivery and campaign management, the broadcaster reported.
"The flexibility of SAS 360 Match allows us to develop things at our own pace," added Maison. "We define our own development queue – we're not waiting for a third party. We're able to build most of the things we need to get to market ourselves."
One of the biggest advancements on the horizon for ITV is addressable linear advertising. Ads delivered on standard broadcast TV are the same for every viewer, but addressable linear allows different ads to be shown to different households, even though they are watching the same program. This is achieved through set-top boxes and smart TV technology that can receive and display ads based on the household's demographics, viewing habits or other targeting criteria, the companies said.
Roderick Crawford, senior vice president for SAS Northern Europe, said: "SAS has been working with ITV for more than 10 years and it's been great to see the collaboration develop to the point where our customer intelligence software now helps deliver personalized ads to the 40million registered users of its content hub, ITVX. We know ITV has ambitious plans to become a leader in UK streaming and grow digital revenue significantly, and we're delighted to be supporting them on this journey."
More information about SAS' work with ITV is available here.
