Leading Media Companies, Smart TV Maker VIZIO Come Together for "Project OAR" - a Consortium Dedicated to Establishing an Addressable Advertising Standard

NEW YORK, March 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- America's top media and technology companies, in collaboration with U.S. smart TV company VIZIO, today announced the formation of a consortium dedicated to the development and deployment of a new, open standard for addressable advertising on connected TVs. The effort will open up a direct dynamic ad- management pathway between content owners and TV devices.

Dubbed "Project OAR" for Open Addressable Ready, the consortium is working to define technical standards for TV programmers and platforms to deliver more relevant advertising experiences within linear and on-demand formats on smart TVs.

Project OAR allows ad-inventory owners, whether programmers or distributors, the technical means to better monetize every TV impression through segment-based audience targets and addressable insertion. 

"TV programmers reach a massive and passionate audience, but have lacked the precision targeting of digital," said Mike Dean, Senior Vice President, Advanced Advertising and Automation at CBS. "Through OAR, CBS will combine relevance with our reach to deliver a better experience to our viewers and better ROI for our advertisers." 

With OAR, media companies can deliver ads that are relevant to the household and, more importantly, improve the linear viewing experience for consumers. "We all recognize the most important goal of this initiative is to drastically enhance the TV experience for people at home," said VIZIO Founder and Chief Executive Officer, William Wang.

The consortium has the initial pledge from VIZIO that once the standard is developed it can be deployed on its opt-in footprint of connected TVs, though the protocol will be open and designed to enable any internet-connected TV maker and connected-device company to leverage it.

"Project OAR complements our strategy around new data-set development supportive of our own company insights," said Jesse Redniss, EVP of Data Strategy, WarnerMedia and GM of the WarnerMedia Innovation Lab. "It's important for us to come together as an industry and create connective experiences that matter to fans, and that includes how we use data to inform and broaden spaces like addressable TV."

With oversight from a committee comprised of representatives from Disney's Media Networks (ABC, ESPN and Freeform), Comcast's FreeWheel and NBCUniversal, Discovery, CBS, Xandr, Turner, Hearst Television and AMC Networks, the technology will be developed by Inscape, the TV ACR data company owned by VIZIO.

"Project OAR aligns well with FreeWheel's objective of supporting the industry to deliver scalable, addressable advertising solutions that will help make television an even more valuable platform for brand marketers. Bringing an addressability standard to Smart TVs nicely complements solutions already available from MVPDs," said Dave Clark, General Manager of FreeWheel, a Comcast company.

The standard promises to solve a lot of problems at once by delivering enhanced advertising products to brands, making the ad-supply chain more efficient, and giving audiences advertising content they are more likely to watch and enjoy.

The OAR standard will be designed to implement a technologically sound, dynamic ad-delivery system while utilizing industry privacy best practices. "The standard will define the baseline for ad delivery, impression verification and privacy compliance, but networks will have plenty of room to create unique and enriched advertising experiences," said Jodie McAfee, SVP at Inscape. "We are making this flexible enough to enable interactivity and other bells and whistles that have yet to be imagined."

With development now underway, the consortium aims to have a working product to showcase in Spring 2019 with full deployment targeted for early 2020.

About Project Open Addressable Ready (OAR):
Project Open Addressable Ready is a technology consortium created to deliver better advertising experiences to viewers through the use of dynamic advertising on internet-connected TVs and devices. Formed in 2018, OAR founding members include CBS, Disney's Media Networks, Comcast's FreeWheel and NBCUniversal, Xandr, Turner, Discovery, Hearst Television, AMC Networks, VIZIO and Inscape. The consortium provides technical specifications and best-practice provisions for the selling, targeting and measurement of TV advertising within privacy-compliant, consumer-forward TV environments. More information can be found at www.projectoar.org

About VIZIO
VIZIO's mission is to deliver the ultimate entertainment experience through our community of connected consumers, advertisers, and media content providers. Through our connected entertainment platform, VIZIO is transforming the way consumers discover and experience media content. Since our founding in California in 2002, VIZIO has built an industry-leading brand of products, including televisions, sound bars and other devices. VIZIO is a leading HDTV and sound bar brand in America. VIZIO product leadership is highlighted by a number of industry reviews and awards, making the 2018 collection the most awarded in company history. The 2018 VIZIO SmartCast E-, P-, and P-Series Quantum TVs have earned Reviewed.com's Editors' Choice awards¹. VIZIO 2018 P-Series earned Wirecutter's Best LCD/LED TV and the P-Series Quantum earned their Upgrade Pick². VIZIO's SB3651 was named "Best Budget Pick" by Wirecutter³, a New York Times company. The SB3621n-E8 sound bar received a 9.1 score and an Editor's Choice from CNET⁴.

For more information, please call 888-VIZIOCE or visit www.VIZIO.com.

© 2019 VIZIO, Inc. VIZIO, the V Logo, VIZIO SmartCast and other terms and phrases are trademarks or registered trademarks of VIZIO, Inc. All other trademarks and logos are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
¹ Visit Reviewed.com for full reviews for the VIZIO SmartCast P-Series Quantum (published: July 25, 2018), VIZIO SmartCast P-Series (published: July 15, 2018) and VIZIO SmartCast E-Series (published: August 21, 2018)
² Visit Wirecutter.com for the Best LCD/LED TV (published: August 31, 2018)
³ Visit Wirecutter.com for the full article (published: September 11, 2018)
⁴ Visit CNET.com  for the full VIZIO SB3621 review (published:  August 21, 2017)

SOURCE VIZIO, Inc.

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