WideOrbit, Mediaocean Team to Automate Local Ad Sales

WideOrbit and Mediaocean said they have integrated their software to automate the buying and selling of local TV advertising inventory.

WideOrbit said its WO Traffic system is used by broadcast station groups to manage more than 90% of U.S. local ad revenue and its WO Programmatic helps 1,000 stations offer inventory directly to media buyers.

Mediaocean’s Spectra and Prisma platforms are used by agencies and advertisers who buy more than $150 billion in traditional and digital media.

The companies said integrating the Spectra Platform and the WO Programmatic Sale Console should make local TV buying less costly and more efficient for media buyers

"Through this partnership, we are delivering on our commitment to automate the buying and selling of traditional and digital media in a neutral and open way,” said Bill Wise, co-founder and CEO at Mediaocean. “Integrating WideOrbit more tightly into the buying process empowers our agencies and advertisers to more easily build campaigns that engage local television’s massive, valuable audiences."

The companies will initially work together to streamline proposal and response processes for local media buyers and the television stations.

“The WideOrbit-Mediaocean partnership is a huge win for everyone in TV advertising," said Eric Mathewson, founder and CEO of WideOrbit. "Buyers will benefit from workflow automation that streamlines the entire buying process, from proposal to air to invoice while stations should see more interest from national brands in local broadcast TV audiences and inventory."

"By deepening our relationship with Mediaocean, WideOrbit delivers on our promise to continually improve on solutions that allow ad buyers and sellers to do business however they choose. We will continue to focus on products, integrations and innovations that make local broadcasting as compelling to ad buyers as any other media platform,” Mathewson said.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.