Yospace and Seven extend partnership for server-side ad insertion into live OTT, continue pioneering approach to monetising live content
Successful monetisation of major events portfolio and scalable programmatic result in deal renewal with Australian TV network
Staines-upon-Thames, UK(30 May 2019)
Yospace, the pioneering provider of server-side ad insertion (SSAI) technology, has today announced the extension of its partnership with Seven, Australia’s leading commercial TV network, enabling SSAI into live OTT channels.
The announcement marks the third year of apartnershipinwhich Yospace’s SSAI technology has been leveraged to create new, addressable ad spots during some of Seven’s largestlive events, including the Winter Olympics, Rugby League World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Melbourne Cup, an event that pulls the highest concurrent streaming audiences in Australia.
Yospace’s SSAI platform, used by leading broadcasters across the globe, solves the technical complexities of delivering addressable advertising for streamed television while maintaining a TV-quality viewer experience, This has enabled Seven to generate new revenue streams across the breadth of its enviable live sports portfolio and 24x7 Broadcast simulcast streams.
The platform successfully addresses a critical challenge in monetising live streams at scale, that of managing the load on ad servers and programmatic platforms when they are hit by a sudden surge in simultaneous ad requests, as happens with major live events. Yospace’s “prefetch” system enables it to call ad servers and the wider programmatic ecosystem in advance, affording them the time needed to handle the spike in ad requests and deliver the highest possible fill-rate for the broadcaster.
“We’ve worked with Seven to pioneer new approaches to monetising its premium live content,” said Tim Sewell, Yospace. “Broadcasters, advertisers, and audiences are demanding more from OTT in terms of viewer experience, addressability and scale – and the extension of our partnership is testimony to our ability to deliver that. We’ll continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible with server-side ad insertion and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership with Seven for the long term.”
“Our viewers expect an engaging, high-quality viewing experience – whether they’re watching Broadcast or Internet streaming content – especially during high-profile live events,” said Darren Kerry, Director Digital Product and Technology, Seven. “Yospace has helped us elevate the OTT viewing experience while opening up whole new bodies of inventory at scale. Yospace will continue to be an important partner as we continue to maximise the value of that inventory through programmatic.”
About Yospace
Yospace is the foremost provider of server-side dynamic ad insertion (SSAI) technology in the world today. Its solution allows live streams and on demand (VoD) content to be monetised for OTT in a way that is true to the seamless viewer experience of linear television, while opening up benefits of digital advertising such as one-to-one addressability and real-time measurement.
Yospace was the first to publicly demonstrate SSAI in a live stream, with ITV in 2012, and today services major broadcasters and network operators across the globe, including AT&T in the US; Sky Media, ITV, BT Sport, Channel 4 and STV in the UK; Telia and TV4 in Sweden; SonyLIV in India (in partnership with Akamai Technologies); Seven West Media, Nine and Network Ten in Australia.
In early 2019 Yospace was acquired by RTL Group, paving the way to expand global operations to 25 countries.