Broadcasters Creating Standards for Automated Ad-Buying Interoperability

A consortium of large TV broadcasters made up of Sinclair, Nexstar, Tegna and Tribune launched an industry work group to develop standard interfaces to accelerate electronic and automated advertising purchases on TV, said the Television Bureau of Advertising in a news release. Called the TV Interface Practices, or TIP, Initiative, the project is intended to help TV ad buying automation systems work together better to facilitate ad sales, the release said. “The goal of the TIP initiative is to accelerate local TV interoperability by creating a coalition of system providers to work with buyers and sellers to develop and implement streamlined transaction workflows using standards-based open APIs [application programming interfaces],” said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook in the release. The group proposed a set of APIs “to support the electronic transfer of ‘buy’ transactional data,” the release said. TVB, headed by Sook, will “provide a repository for the TIP Initiative’s work and open access for industry partners,” the release said. The consortium produced a white paper on best practices, called "Interface Automation Guidelines for Local TV Transactions." Advertising and content “monetization options” will expand with the spread of ATSC 3.0, said Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley in the release. “For our industry to quickly and effectively optimize this opportunity, while ensuring transparency, it is important for us to collaborate on this effort ahead of the adoption of ATSC 3.0.”