Virgin Media is this week launching a dynamic advertising trial over its on demand TV platform. The three-month long trial to homes in North London will carry advertising from brands including Kellogg’s, John Lewis and Royal Mail. The commercials will be inserted before and after a selection of freely available on demand content from Virgin Media TV, Channel 4 and Warner TV.
The ads will be placed using SeaChange’s AdPulse advertising insertion technology. The system will match ads to programme genres, test a range of ad lengths, including single 30 second pre-rolls, consecutive pre-rolls and end rolls, and update campaigns weekly. The number of ads will be capped and there will also be limits placed on the volume of programmes that have ads placed around them. Like the content itself it will be possible to fast forward through the ads.
Mark Schweitzer, chief commercial officer, Virgin Media said the company was continuing to innovate with content, interactivity and functionality. “As consumer usage of on demand continues to build, this trial will help us explore the best ways to reach a large and growing audience with engaging and relevant advertising.”
On Demand Group (ODG) is providing content aggregation. The SeaChange subsidiary is also working with Rentrak Corporation to measure content performance during the trial and understand the impact of on demand advertising.
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