Ad Alliance all set for programmatic linear TV

Adtech made in Europe: Ad Alliance all set for programmatic linear TV

COLOGNE — It’s all systems go for programmatic linear TV (PLTV)! Virtual Minds, the adtech specialist of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, and RTL Technology have completed the technical integration of Media Manager into RTL Deutschland’s TV playout system, creating the technical infrastructure for Ad Alliance to make RTL Deutschland’s linear TV reach programmatically accessible. This is a milestone for cross-media advertising sales house Ad Alliance and a major step forward for the #AdTechMadeInEurope initiative.

Advertisers using Virtual Minds’ Active Agent DSP will be able to plan and purchase RTL Deutschland’s brand-safe TV reach according to digital logics, with the booking initially taking the form of a programmatic guaranteed deal. To ensure precise campaign targeting, there are currently 24 target groups that can be addressed in real time. As well as different ad lengths, advertisers can choose between two different inventory packages.

RTL Deutschland’s potential reach of around 63 million viewers (source: AGF Videoforschung) can now be combined with the precision and efficiency of digital. This opens up traditional TV to (among others) advertisers with a digital mindset, such as our launch partner Agentur Neun, who are producing the first PLTV campaign for their client from the non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector.

Automated purchasing, planning and delivery of TV campaigns can be optimised through the use of real-time data, based on data supplied by AGF and the HbbTV data of TV sets connected to the internet. This enables recommendation approaches to ad placement, ensuring that the right message is played to the right target group at the right time. Advertisers also benefit from 100 per cent target-group billing while also achieving valuable scatter gains. In short, TV campaigns are being taken to a whole new level. With PLTV, the transformation from long-term booking logics to short-term, real-time decision-making has become a reality.

Frank Vogel, Managing Director of Ad Alliance: “Datafication of linear TV is the latest stage in the digital transformation of television and a key building block in our CrossOver Evolution strategy. Establishing PLTV is essential for the cross-genre future so that video inventory can be booked in a truly holistic way and from a single provider. The adtech cooperation has enabled this groundbreaking step to be taken much faster, so we can now step on the gas. We look forward to getting started with our first test advertiser.”

Tom Peruzzi, management spokesman and CTO of Virtual Minds: “Implementation of ‘Adtech made in Europe’ is making great strides and has now taken concrete shape. As of today, advertisers can programmatically purchase and optimise traditional TV advertising on all major private broadcasters in Germany based on standardised technology. We’re delighted that the highly professional and goal-oriented collaboration between the technical teams at RTL Deutschland and Virtual Minds has delivered a standardised market solution so quickly. This offers new, innovative opportunities for traditional TV advertising and significantly advances the video advertising market as a whole.”

Automated access to linear TV reach is a game changer, offering the market simple, digital access to the TV world and so extensive access to the inventories of all major private broadcasters.

#AdTechMadeInEurope

In February 2024, media companies RTL Deutschland and ProSiebenSat.1 agreed to cooperate on advertising technology under the banner ‘Adtech made in Europe’. Their goal is to establish an end-to-end adtech stack for Europe as a genuine alternative to international tech providers, one that takes into account the individual specialisations of European markets. This involves bundling the services of their respective advertising technology businesses, primarily the technologies of smartclip and Virtual Minds as well as other adtech expertise possessed by the two partners. The aim is to create an open and transparent platform combining digital and linear, with simple and clear booking options.