Project OAR (OAR stands for “Open Addressable Ready”) launched in 2018 in an effort to recommend standard advertising protocols for TV programmers and platforms. Specifically, these protocols would allow the ecosystem to more easily manage, sell and deliver relevant ad experiences in linear and on-demand formats on smart TVs. The star-studded founding members of Project OAR included CBS, Disney, Comcast’s FreeWheel and NBCUniversal, Xandr, WarnerMedia, Discovery, Hearst Television, AMC Networks, VIZIO, and Inscape.
Today at CES, where CTV and OTT is arguably the hottest topic among marketers, Project OAR’s mission took several significant steps forward. The consortium revealed that it has formally aligned on most of the technical specs needed for its ad protocols. OAR also announced that it has officially begun implementing the technical integrations needed to roll those protocols out across key TV ad platforms. The integrations are already underway across FreeWheel, Google Ad Manager, Xandr, and INVIDI.
In addition, Project OAR highlighted new and major strides on the hardware side, deploying critical software though founding member VIZIO’s massive smart TV footprint. According to the company’s announcement, VIZIO has begun pushing software and firmware updates to its more than 13 million of its smart TVs across the US that offer dynamic ad insertion.
“We have effectively rolled out the hardest parts of dynamic advertising into the TV sets, and now members can work on building infrastructure for deploying, managing and selling dynamic ads,” says Zeev Neumeier, SVP of Technology at OAR member Inscape. Inscape is the smart TV data company leading the building and development of the standard in collaboration with engineers and executives from the consortium members.
With the announcement, the industry is moving closer to having credible technological standards for dynamic ad insertion — meaning more relevant and personalized ads — on linear inventory for smart TVs. This makes dynamic insertion a more realistic opportunity compared to years prior.
The power of dynamic ad insertion for linear formats on smart TV will be on display at CES. Per the announcement, the VIZIO showroom “will highlight the ability to deliver targeted ads through addressable-enabled streaming, cable, satellite and telco video content networks to reach audiences regardless of where, when or how they choose to view television.”
In a statement about the updates, Laura Nelson, SVP, Advertising Solutions & Performance Advertising at Disney Advertising Sales, said, “We are pleased that the progress we’ve made to advance the technical and measurement specifications.” She added that it “speaks to the commitment everyone has to innovate experiences on behalf of brands and consumers.”
