SAN FRANCISCO & SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RGB Networks, the leader in network video processing, and OpenTV (Nasdaq:OPTV - News), a leading software and technology provider of advanced digital television solutions, collaborated with other partners to demonstrate several advanced advertising capabilities for cable television operators at the Advanced Advertising 1.0 Platform Interoperability event recently held by CableLabs®, the cable television industry’s research and development consortium.
Enabling the demonstrations were RGB’s Broadcast Network Processor (BNP) and OpenTV’s campaign management solution, which integrated seamlessly to show how operators can generate new ad revenues through localized, audience-focused, overlay-based advertisements that can be inserted into either linear programming or video-on-demand (VOD) content. The demonstrations were based on several existing and developing standards, including the new Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), which enhances ads by enabling viewers to interact with them, such as requesting additional information or participating in voting or polling. The companies showed two types of EBIF demonstrations:
•“Pre-bound” in which EBIF data was embedded into traditional video ads which were then inserted into programming by the BNP during local ad availability spots
•“Late-binding” in which EBIF data was dynamically inserted by the BNP into network programs, network ads and during local ad insertion events, allowing for addressability
Also demonstrated was network-based, late-binding overlay insertion utilizing the BNP’s SCTE 130 Ad Management Service (ADM) and the OpenTV Ad Decision Service (ADS), which allows for broader coverage of graphic overlays to set-top boxes and any other downstream MPEG subscriber device.
“Advertising has long been an excellent revenue source for operators, and working with OpenTV and our other partners we’re showing operators how they can leverage advanced advertising capabilities to expand this revenue opportunity,” said Jeff Tyre, Director, Product Marketing for RGB Networks. “Combining seamless ad splicing, multiple EBIF transport options, digital overlay insertion and exceptional stream processing density, our Broadcast Network Processor gives cable operators unprecedented abilities to deliver more advanced ads that are increasingly localized and personalized to the viewer, which translates into greater ad revenues for operators.”
“This was a great opportunity for us to demonstrate how the new standards have matured over the past year making these comprehensive systems possible,” said Bruce Dilger, Vice President of R&D for OpenTV’s Advanced Advertising Division. “We’re very pleased to work with RGB to show how our tools can help operators visualize and simplify the otherwise complex task of coordinating audience-addressed copy variations and new media types like graphic overlays and interactive content that create a rich viewer experience.”
Local advertising is a significant business for U.S operators, earning them more than $4.3 billion in 2008. However, with EBIF and other advanced advertising capabilities, operators have the potential to greatly expand their current advertising models and generate substantially more revenue. RGB’s BNP has been developed specifically for this task, enabling operators to easily localize ads in real time by overlaying text, graphics and even video directly onto ads to provide locally relevant or time-sensitive information. Working as an integrated solution with the BNP, OpenTV’s campaign management solution greatly simplifies the coordination of addressable copy and media variations and provides the real-time ad decision rules based on selected ad type against the appropriate audience addressing criteria.