AppLovin-owned Wurl is expanding capabilities it offers to FAST channel publishers, marking a new strategic partnership with Transmit that brings the latter’s in-stream and other CTV ad formats into the fold to boost monetization.
Wurl is already a significant vendor in the FAST space, helping to power thousands of free ad-supported streaming channels and offering tools for distribution and monetization, including emotion-basedcontextual ad targeting. But Transmit marks a first-of-its-kind partnership for Wurl in teaming up to allow FAST publishers to insert new CTV ad formats – providing clients with the opportunity to better monetize and add incremental ad revenue for their channels, while aiming to keep a positive viewing experience intact.
Transmit for its part has already been working with streamers on CTV-native ads, where it touts in-stream formats like Picture-in-Picture. Unlike a traditional 30-second spot, the Picture-in-Picture format, for example, highlights brand messaging and ads alongside content instead of a regular ad break that cuts away. According to Transmit CEO Seth Hittman, these types of formats offer the chance for inventory and revenue that FAST publishers wouldn’t have otherwise, by creating new ad opportunities within the programming itself.
“This is one of Transmit's key innovations and improves on the traditional 30-second ad spot by integrating seamlessly into the stream without taking the viewer away from the content itself, resulting in higher engagement for brands and incremental revenue for publishers,” Hittman told StreamTV Insider via email.
Expanding the opportunity for ad revenue from FAST with an assist from new formats and incremental inventory could be appealing to channel publishers – because while usage of free ad-supported streaming options has garnered favor with consumers, some in the space have indicated the need to better monetize viewing on channels, citing lackluster ad fill rates.
Separate earlier research from Comcast’s ad tech FreeWheel unit found that up to a quarter of ad avails are not filled on FAST channels – meaning both underutilized inventory and viewing lulls for consumers that then often see slate (ie: unfilled air time that amounts to a blank screen or “be right back” message). And research released in May from the FreeWheel Viewer Experience Lab found that ads themselves on streaming don’t appear to negatively impact the viewing experience, but a poor ad break experience does – including the presence of slate. So new ad formats easily available on FAST could be welcomed by publishers, consumers and advertisers alike.
Many Transmit customers to-date have FAST channels, where the company has supported revenue and viewership growth on their owned-and-operated (O&O) channels – but through the new partnership, the ad formats will now be available to thousands of FAST channels in the Wurl ecosystem.
“This partnership with Wurl will be the first time these formats will be readily available on FAST channels,” Hittman noted. “Given the depth of Wurl’s market share and success in driving results for their publishers to date, we are thrilled to power the next evolution of FAST monetization in a manner that does not disrupt the viewing experience.”
Wurl clients will now be able to implement Transmit’s CTV-native formats, where Hittman cited a strength of the partnership. Since Transmit offers server-side rather than client-side ad format solutions, Wurl can push the ad formats automatically to the vendor’s thousands of channels (for those customers that sign on).
“The publishers will be able to opt in and activate the benefits of Transmit’s ad formats at the press of a proverbial button,” Hittman commented.
Some existing Wurl clients, which could potentially tap the new formats from Transmit, include A+E Networks, ION Media Networks, AMC Networks, Bloomberg, BBC Studios and Game Show Network.
Joint go-to-market efforts are already underway, the CEO confirmed, adding that the two companies will continue to collaborate as they look to onboard new FAST channel publishers with the offerings.
In the partnership with Wurl, Transmit will be responsible for stitching all forms of ads into the content – which includes traditional ad pods as well as its proprietary in-stream formats. And the company isn’t completely eschewing traditional ad breaks, but Hittman sees new formats as a way to keep viewers engaged.
“Our platform has always supported traditional ad pods and respects them as an important part of a publisher’s monetization strategy. That said, as an example of how we can also enhance the pods themselves, we offer Picture in Picture ad pods that cycle through multiple ad spots without breaking away from the content,” he noted. “This can be supplemental or even replace existing breaks to keep the user engaged in the content without breaking away.”
Several streamers have been experimenting with new CTV ad formats, where other vendors in the space like BrightLine and KERV Interactive are among those helping to introduce interactive and shoppable elements.
And although many appear keen on trying out new formats, ensuring they don’t cause more headaches in an already fragmented TV and media landscape is an effort the IAB Tech Lab has recently taken up with its Ad Format Idol initiative that aims to standardize how the most popular emerging CTV ad formats are described in the bidstream.
“CTV viewership continues to grow, thanks in large part to greater viewer consumption and engagement on FAST,” said Dave Bernath, General Manager of the Americas at Wurl, in a statement. “It’s an exciting time and, together, we see Wurl and Transmit as leading the charge when it comes to driving innovation in this space. Ultimately, our goal is to create an effective ecosystem for everyone – boost monetization for publishers, drive better outcomes for advertisers, and deliver an engaging experience for viewers.”
Wurl, meanwhile, has teamed up before as it looks to offer simplified and more end-to-end solutions in the FAST space. That includes with vendor Frequency last year to pair their respective channel creation and distribution and ad monetization and content discovery tools as preferred partners.