Advanced Advertising
Advertising is growing in importance for cable operators. CableLabs is currently supporting activity in four areas designed to create new revenue opportunities around advanced advertising technologies. These areas are digital ad insertion, interactive advertising, reporting, and addressability.
Digital Ad Insertion
Estimated revenue from local ad sales topped $xx billion in 2006, up from $yy in 1996. A key enabler of this revenue boost is the transition to digital systems. Digital ad insertion systems enable cable headends and broadcast affiliates to insert locally-generated commercials and short programs into remotely distributed regional programs before they are delivered to home viewers.
To overcome the limitations associated with analog cue-tone and analog/hybrid ad-insertion systems, particularly in compressed video delivery environments, the cable industry began the Digital Program Insertion (DPI) initiative with the goal to create a set of DPI standards to assist in replacing existing analog/hybrid ad-insertion systems-the equipment built upon these standards also will be interoperable. Standards work has proceeded in SCTE-DVS Working Group 5 with support from CableLabs in the areas of standards development and interoperability testing.
The first standard, SCTE 35 2001 (formerly DVS253), Digital Program Insertion Cueing Message for Cable, supports splicing of MPEG-2 streams for digital program insertion including ad insertion. A companion standard, SCTE 30 2001 (formerly DVS380), Digital Program Insertion Splicing API, creates a standardized method for communication between servers and splicers for the insertion of content into any MPEG-2 output multiplex in the splicer. These two standards allow for interoperability and interchangeability of ad-insertion equipment and represent an enabling milestone in cable television advertising. In 2003, SCTE 35 was greatly enhanced to exploit advanced DPI capabilities. The enhanced SCTE 35 standard enables implementation of targeted/addressable advertisement and other time-triggered applications, such as network/local storage.
To access completed standard documents ANSI/SCTE 30 2005, ANSI/SCTE 67 2002, ANSI/SCTE 35 2004, SCTE 118-3 2006, SCTE 118-1 2006, SCTE 104, and guide document SCTE 67, please contact the SCTE (www.scte.org).
To ensure interoperability, CableLabs has been performing two interoperability events a year to test the compliance of equipment to the SCTE 35 and SCTE 30 standards. To date, CableLabs has qualified equipment from six vendors for generation of cue-packets compliant to SCTE 35 2001; ad-server equipment from three vendors compliant to SCTE 30 2001; and from two vendors, splicing equipment that can detect cue-packets and communicate with an ad-server over Ethernet (per SCTE 30 2001) to insert local ads into network feeds.
Interactivity
CableLabs and its member companies have developed an advanced platform for interactivity through the ETV and OpenCable Platform specifications. [links] Interactive advertising may be one of the initial applications using such a platform. For example, recent work has developed features within the ETV spec that allow for interactivity within an advertisement that allows a customer to request further information about a product. Another example is the ability to select an interactive link during an ad which launches the customer into the cable operator's On Demand environment, where the customer may then view a long-form ad about a product of particular interest to that customer.
Reporting
Improving the coverage and timeliness of reporting ad viewing or interactive usage back to the advertiser increases the value to the advertiser of the placement. CableLabs is contributing to that ability through the development of a set of common metrics (viewership, click through behavior) that are now part of the OpenCable family of specifications.
Addressability
Cable companies are developing the ability to deliver more accurately an ad to customers who may have a particular interest in that ad.
Implementation of addressability, including functionality such as program-specific advertising and targeted ad insertion, requires that some of the DPI end-to-end architecture components be standardized (standardization work currently is in progress). Additionally, the SCTE 104 Automation System to Compression System API standard, which was completed in 2004, also will help to implement advanced DPI.
Further, accurate addressing depends on so-called metadata associated with particular ads showing characteristics of the target audience (demographics, interests, etc.). CableLabs VOD Metadata specifications created a common framework for this type of metadata, and work is planned to extend the framework to support more effective ad metadata.
For more information on the digital program insertion initiative, please contact CableLabs at 303.661.9100.
Digital Ad Insertion
Estimated revenue from local ad sales topped $xx billion in 2006, up from $yy in 1996. A key enabler of this revenue boost is the transition to digital systems. Digital ad insertion systems enable cable headends and broadcast affiliates to insert locally-generated commercials and short programs into remotely distributed regional programs before they are delivered to home viewers.
To overcome the limitations associated with analog cue-tone and analog/hybrid ad-insertion systems, particularly in compressed video delivery environments, the cable industry began the Digital Program Insertion (DPI) initiative with the goal to create a set of DPI standards to assist in replacing existing analog/hybrid ad-insertion systems-the equipment built upon these standards also will be interoperable. Standards work has proceeded in SCTE-DVS Working Group 5 with support from CableLabs in the areas of standards development and interoperability testing.
The first standard, SCTE 35 2001 (formerly DVS253), Digital Program Insertion Cueing Message for Cable, supports splicing of MPEG-2 streams for digital program insertion including ad insertion. A companion standard, SCTE 30 2001 (formerly DVS380), Digital Program Insertion Splicing API, creates a standardized method for communication between servers and splicers for the insertion of content into any MPEG-2 output multiplex in the splicer. These two standards allow for interoperability and interchangeability of ad-insertion equipment and represent an enabling milestone in cable television advertising. In 2003, SCTE 35 was greatly enhanced to exploit advanced DPI capabilities. The enhanced SCTE 35 standard enables implementation of targeted/addressable advertisement and other time-triggered applications, such as network/local storage.
To access completed standard documents ANSI/SCTE 30 2005, ANSI/SCTE 67 2002, ANSI/SCTE 35 2004, SCTE 118-3 2006, SCTE 118-1 2006, SCTE 104, and guide document SCTE 67, please contact the SCTE (www.scte.org).
To ensure interoperability, CableLabs has been performing two interoperability events a year to test the compliance of equipment to the SCTE 35 and SCTE 30 standards. To date, CableLabs has qualified equipment from six vendors for generation of cue-packets compliant to SCTE 35 2001; ad-server equipment from three vendors compliant to SCTE 30 2001; and from two vendors, splicing equipment that can detect cue-packets and communicate with an ad-server over Ethernet (per SCTE 30 2001) to insert local ads into network feeds.
Interactivity
CableLabs and its member companies have developed an advanced platform for interactivity through the ETV and OpenCable Platform specifications. [links] Interactive advertising may be one of the initial applications using such a platform. For example, recent work has developed features within the ETV spec that allow for interactivity within an advertisement that allows a customer to request further information about a product. Another example is the ability to select an interactive link during an ad which launches the customer into the cable operator's On Demand environment, where the customer may then view a long-form ad about a product of particular interest to that customer.
Reporting
Improving the coverage and timeliness of reporting ad viewing or interactive usage back to the advertiser increases the value to the advertiser of the placement. CableLabs is contributing to that ability through the development of a set of common metrics (viewership, click through behavior) that are now part of the OpenCable family of specifications.
Addressability
Cable companies are developing the ability to deliver more accurately an ad to customers who may have a particular interest in that ad.
Implementation of addressability, including functionality such as program-specific advertising and targeted ad insertion, requires that some of the DPI end-to-end architecture components be standardized (standardization work currently is in progress). Additionally, the SCTE 104 Automation System to Compression System API standard, which was completed in 2004, also will help to implement advanced DPI.
Further, accurate addressing depends on so-called metadata associated with particular ads showing characteristics of the target audience (demographics, interests, etc.). CableLabs VOD Metadata specifications created a common framework for this type of metadata, and work is planned to extend the framework to support more effective ad metadata.
For more information on the digital program insertion initiative, please contact CableLabs at 303.661.9100.