Ad tech has weathered its fair share of changes and technological shakeups, and there are more on the way thanks to 5G and ATSC 3.0.
The industry has been discussing, anticipating and debating these performance standards for nearly two years. While similar at face value and sometimes pitted against one another in the battle to deliver content to viewers, they both have a place, not only in the buyer’s and seller’s arsenals but also for the overall advertising technology landscape and those that work daily to keep it alive.
5G promises high-speed wireless to improve the viewer’s experience, regardless of device. While that may result in more cord-cutting, the technology’s flexibility and compatibility with anything internet-enabled creates an advantage in adoption.
ATSC 3.0’s combination of OTA delivery and internet capabilities gives broadcasters the ability to deliver content not only to homes but mobile devices and cars as well. This tool also allows local broadcasters to collect information for addressable one-to-one advertising, offering them the same capabilities as their network counterparts and creating even more opportunities to sell television as a targeted medium alongside the Facebooks and Googles of the world.
For buyers, addressable ads mean more sophisticated audience targeting, message creation and creative. For sellers, such easily accessible inventory furthers the maturity of television as a channel in today’s digital world.
Leveraging the two
Experimenting with 5G and ATSC 3.0 has its advantages. Broadcasters can learn to customize viewer experiences, leverage cutting-edge technology for personalized advertising and display companion content on a smaller device as viewers watch television. Advertisers are able to leverage richer data sets via 5G to gain a better understanding of viewing preferences and consumer behavior, thereby allowing them to create more customizable and effective ads.
Customers have more choices, which means companies must work harder tracking preferences across devices and touchpoints. Broadcast and OTT will continue to dominate in the age of 5G and ATSC 3.0, so buyers will be able to compare and reconcile demographic targeting data. Plus, new statistics from ATSC 3.0 will give broadcasters the chance to target specific audience attributes and place the right messages in front of the right people.
Both 5G and ATSC 3.0 are having an impact on “internet of things” devices and getting support from major companies. LG and Samsung have invested in the technologies, ensuring they will be employed in smart TVs and other home viewing devices for years to come.
Broadcasters can use the reach and broadband capabilities of 5G, coupled with the image quality, reception and audio improvements from ATSC 3.0 to transform the consumer experience. 5G is expected to deliver much higher speeds of data processing and exchange, resulting in faster loading times for ads not only on desktop and mobile but also on broadcast and OTT. The small delays that almost every visitor to a given website currently experiences as they wait for a server to respond will be a thing of the past. All of these improvements combined will open up new ad formats and pricing alternatives for publishers and advertisers.
Being open to innovation
Both technologies have promising use cases, giving even more opportunities to utilize targeted advertising, programmatic ad buys and meaningful user data. Broadcasters and marketers who implement these tools will improve their approaches to reaching consumers, and growth in these distribution methods will mean less dependence on MVPD in each market.
To manage the wealth of data available from both technologies and the internal change adoption will bring, companies will need the right automated platforms. These tools create efficiencies of scale, facilitate easier and faster transaction times and ultimately allow greater opportunities for broadcasters and advertisers alike to better engage with customers.
Investing time and energy into understanding and leveraging 5G and ATSC 3.0 will benefit all those that use it, regardless of size.
