AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Advertising Age

As the cable industry struggles to scale its addressable advertising solutions for advertisers solutions for advertisers, NBC Universal is turning to cable’s biggest competitors, the satellite pay-TV providers, for an innovative pact in interactive-TV advertising.

NBCU and Dish Network announced a partnership yesterday that would allow any Dish Network subscribers who own a digital video recorder to access more information from advertisers that air commercials on any of NBCU’s 14 broadcast and cable networks and 10 owned-and-operated local stations.

Michael Finn, VP-ad sales for Dish Network, said the new partnership marks the first time a TV distributor has used the Dish platform to scale interactive capabilities across its 14 million-home subscriber base. Dish has created more than 200 interactive platforms for advertisers in the past.

Understanding and adapting

“Our agreement with Dish Network is part of NBCU’s ongoing initiative to make TV advertising more effective and provide better accountability for our clients’ media investments,” Mike Pilot, president-sales and marketing for NBC Universal, said in a statement. “With this deal, we’re extending our ability to provide request-for-information capability to any commercial on any NBCU network — an important step and a unique capability in the market as we work with our clients to better understand and adapt to the new ways consumers are watching TV.”

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