What you need to know:

• Seven, Nine and Ten back in market in earnest with plan to build combined BVOD buying system.
• Networks yesterday briefed agencies on plan to be in market in January quarter.
• Next key hurdle is convincing main adtech players – DSPs and SSPs – to play ball. They have all been invited. Networks mute on whether any have accepted in principle.
• SSPs and DSPs being briefed this month, tech specs due July.
• Agency execs think the plan – which would be a world first – has benefits to advertisers. But say it will not be easy to deliver, even with TV networks aligned.
• Some fear price inflation, others suggest it will shine a light on mark-ups already being applied to BVOD inventory.
• If Seven, Nine and Ten can get system in play, “Nirvana” for buyers is to bring Foxtel, SBS, and ad-funded streamers into fold.

BVOD counteroffensive

The main free to air networks yesterday repitched their plan to combat YouTube’s might and claw back some of the estimated $2bn in ad revenue swallowed by the Google-owned platform with a unified BVOD play powered by OzTam IDs.

In recent years, the networks had leaked ad revenue mainly to YouTube as free-to-air audiences declined. Lately those ad dollars have largely been recycled into their BVOD channels. Now the networks aim to take the fight to Google by presenting a united front – by going to market with the capability to deliver a combined, cross-network de-duplicated reach and frequency capped buy powered by the OzTam ID.

“It will be the only place you will be able to plan, buy and post-analyse reach across linear and BVOD utilising the Oztam ID,” per one network exec. “It will be the only place you can do this in the Australian video marketplace as no other provider has a single identifier to measure the incremental reach that one provider adds to another in a total TV world. You will be able to frequency cap and build reach modules across the piste – and for advertisers, that is powerful.”

That capability would present a world first – and agencies are broadly supportive, though some of the holdcos with highly profitable addressable TV platforms will likely need to adapt those business models.

After several false starts and renaming exercises, the initiative is now dubbed ‘BVOD Project’ following earlier iterations of ‘BVOD Marketplace’ and ‘BVOD Connect’. The networks are now trying to move forward in earnest.

The aim is to be in market by the January quarter 2024 with the ability to buy using the OzTam identifier across Seven, Nine and Ten ad inventory. SBS and Foxtel are not yet committed. The ultimate aim could be to bring streaming players into the fold – with Nine-owned Stan, should it launch ads, and Binge obvious candidates to create further scale – if the initiative can first clear technical and commercial hurdles.

Tech crunch

The former may present the most immediate challenge. Via yesterday’s briefing to agencies and other stakeholders, it is understood that OzTam will re-brief adtech players this month with technical specs set to be finalised by July.

The broadcasters must convince global DSPs and SSPs to play ball and accept identifiers other than their own within their systems. That leaves the adtech players with a decision to make, given the bulk of their corporate valuations are wrapped up within proprietary identifiers.

The TV networks must also convince the tech players to undertake the engineering that enables multiple people within a household to be rolled into a single ad impression – which runs counter to their current technology. That decision would require global sign-off.

The large adtech players must weigh-up whether developing and opening systems to a single geographic marketplace is worth the commercial and technical engineering. It could provide competitive advantage, should global markets later lift Australia’s BVOD template. If they decide not to play ball, they could lose share to smaller players locally – the likes of Amobee were mooted as having the most to gain in that situation by several execs. Per the briefing all the major DSPs and SSPs have been invited to the BVOD Project party. It’s not yet clear if any have RSVP’d.

‘Not a marketplace’

The networks insist what they are building is not a marketplace. While it will be the only means for buyers to enable de-duplicated reach and frequency capped buys across the collective broadcast landscape using the OzTam identifier, the networks will not close off individual buying avenues to their inventory.

That approach should head off any competition concerns, though agency execs suggest that Google-owned YouTube, which would have the clearest incentive to seek regulatory scrutiny of the combined network approach, has far greater challenges in that regard. “I have no concerns over this product [BVOD Project],” per one exec. “YouTube tells us they have six times the inventory of the three free-to-air networks combined on CTV. It’s hardly anticompetitive.” YouTube’s inventory, meanwhile, can only be bought through the Google buying stack.

Agencies see upside, questions remain

With some exceptions, agencies briefed on the plans are broadly supportive. They say the initiative makes strategic sense and would provide an alternative to the tools they have already developed along with third parties to buy and optimise BVOD centrally across all providers.

While some complain that the BVOD Project would dull the granularity of their targeting, because it defaults toward traditional TV’s audience segmentation, others argued that buyers can simply use their existing approaches – i.e. use their data overlays to buy shows on a single network.

There are also unanswered questions around how the system will be funded and broader concerns over whether the BVOD Project may lead to price inflation – though some buyers say the relative transparency of a combined network approach would actually shine a light on the significant mark-ups being applied by some agencies and tech players to BVOD inventory. BVOD prices broadly range from a $30-$55 CPM depending on the network and targeting parameters. Some advertisers end up paying much more.

“This is the three main networks working together to combat a huge global company ... I think they will steal back some of the share taken from them over the last couple of years … maybe not all of it, but enough,” said one holdco exec. “There is a benefit to advertisers, because it promises de-duplicated linear TV reach on top of BVOD. But there’s quite a few ducks to align.”

Per the exec, “Nirvana is having all of the BVOD players and the ad-funded streaming players in one system. OzTam says that is possible. Whether or not they will all come to the party is a different question. In an ideal world, you’d get YouTube in there as well. But even with everybody bar YouTube it would be a massive win – and the take-up from advertisers and agencies would be accelerated.”

But that’s Nirvana. First the three main broadcasters have to get the tech players to play ball.