Share the Wealth

Share and share alike. Marketron intends to make life easier for stations by enabling all those in a group to operate from one sales and traffic database. "Advertiser credit ratings, programming schedules, and other information can be shared," says Marketron CEO Mike Jackson. "That reduces substantial amounts of redundant data entry and enables managers to generate consolidated reports in real-time."

Marketron's approach is to host its customers' databases, handling storage, maintenance, and security. Users can access the system from any terminal that has Internet capabilities, provided they have clearance. "Implementations are fast and easy. There is no proprietary desktop software to install or update," says Jackson. "It also includes enterprise-grade protections, like best-in-class system hardware, expert IT maintenance, top-shelf data security, and disaster recovery."

In addition, stations save on hardware costs. Jackson says the price of hardware upgrades for a midsize station group can exceed $370,000 over three years. And that doesn't include disaster recovery and remote connectivity. "We bear the data-processing and storage burdens, eliminating the need for station desktop and server upgrades."

Marketron is also taking on overnight ratings functionality. It will provide Nielsen metered and local-people-meter data electronically through Marketron's TV Sales applications. "Station sales staffs," says Jackson, "will be able to rapidly create post-buy analysis reports for advertisers that reflect actual viewership throughout the campaign rather than estimates based on sweeps data."