RhythmOne expands range of Smart TV advanced ad impression units

RhythmOne Expands Suite of Smart TV Impression Units for Advanced TV Advertising

LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO — RhythmOne plc (LSE AIM: RTHM), a global advertising technology company, today announced that its pioneering advanced TV and video solution, YuMe by RhythmOne, is now offering an expanded set of Smart TV Impression Units to meet the evolving needs of marketers. In addition to the expanded set of units, YuMe by RhythmOne is now one of the largest single sources of smart TV ad inventory, with new inventory now available from its premier smart TV original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners.

YuMe by RhythmOne’s Smart TV Impression Units are a premium, high share-of-voice units displayed within the smart TV hubs of its OEM partners. The company began offering these types of ads in 2011, known then as First Impression Units, when the majority of connected TV (CTV) ad experiences were delivered on smart TVs and Blu-ray players. Although the market for standalone over-the-top (OTT) streaming devices has grown, a smart TV is one of the primary ways users may access OTT and streaming content on a television. eMarketer estimates that smart TVs specifically – i.e., televisions with built-in internet connectivity that do not require a standalone device – are used today in the US by 94.8 million people, which represents the majority (approximately 51.9%) of all CTV users in 2018. This figure is projected to rise 119 million people by 2022, representing approximately 58.3% of all CTV users.1

“As smart TV ownership and CTV viewing continues to rise, innovative monetization models are rapidly emerging to reach a growing audience of cord cutters and cord-nevers,” said Jorg Nowak, Senior Vice President of Global Sales, RhythmOne. “The ability for our Smart TV Impression Units to reach audiences – sometimes as the ‘last stop’ before entering non-ad supported streaming services – is invaluable for advertisers as a way to engage with these hard to reach consumers on the biggest screen in the home.”

YuMe by RhythmOne’s Smart TV Impression Units run in highly visible positions throughout the viewing experience, including the TV’s home screen, content store, and apps, as viewers look for and browse content. They also offer a variety of available post-click actions such as click-to-video, click-to-website, click-to-custom micro-site, and click-to-app, all of which are full-screen experiences. This ad unit is particularly effective when trying to get in front of consumers who are about to enter non-ad-supported content.

Smart TV Impression Units serve three key categories of media buyers:

• Digital Display Media Buyers seeking to extend digital cross-screen campaigns with unique, high-impact smart TV display opportunities.
• Digital Video Media Buyers who want to add efficiency and incremental reach to existing video campaigns.
• Connected TV Media Buyers looking to deliver high-impact engagement with unique audiences (e.g., cord cutters and cord-nevers) on CTV devices.

The features of Smart TV Impression Units include:

• Smart TV Impact. Delivery of ads across multiple OEMs, and includes unique ad formats only available through this offering. Currently available for US campaigns.
• Smart TV Takeover. 100% share-of-voice on OEM-connected devices. These are increasingly popular across brand categories to help achieve campaign objectives including product launches, tune-in campaigns (show/movie releases), and driving viewers to an app supported in the OEM native app store. Available in North America.
• Smart TV National. Broad reach to help maximize audience extension for linear TV or digital campaigns. Available in North America and Latin America.
• Smart TV Geo-targeted. Increased scale targeted at the DMA level. Available in North America.

1. eMarketer: US Smart TV Users and Penetration, July 2018.