Digiday

With the closing ceremonies a memory and medals stowed in trophy cases or trotted out all over social media, the Paris Summer Olympics are finally done. But advertisers’ and broadcasters’ work continues. Media companies such as NBCU and Channel 4, and marketers at major brands such as Nike, Bridgestone and Samsung, are crunching the numbers to figure out which channels were most useful and how many viewers engaged with the thousands of hours of broadcast sport.

Free, ad-supported streaming TV channels may be growing in viewership, but that growth is outstripping advertiser demand. This year viewership of FAST channels has increased the amount of available ad slots to the point that a larger share of those impressions are going unfilled, according to Wurl, a streaming technology provider that powers FAST channels from media companies including A+E Networks, Canela Media and Curiosity Inc.

As President Joe Biden’s administration takes aim at cheaper Chinese products — think about the continually growing popularity of sellers like Temu and SHEIN — by increasing tariffs on said products, ad buyers hope the eventual ripple effects will be cheaper #CPMs on Meta platforms. Earlier this year, an ad blitz from #Temu had ad buyers, particularly those who work for direct-to-consumer brands, abuzz. Throughout the first quarter of 2024, Temu spent $46 million on paid social ads with 98% of that spend dedicated to Facebook, according to data from MediaRadar, Inc. Buyers at the time said that Temu’s increased ad spending on Meta had allegedly disrupted the market and boosted CPMs. In this piece by Kristina Monllos, we speak to Katya Constantine of DigiShopGirl Media, Eric Farmer of Wallaroo Media, Kevin Simonson of adMixt, and Duane Brown of Take Some Risk Inc.

Cologne’s about to transform into a chaotic cocktail of code and K?lsch, where ad tech devotees descend for their annual pilgrimage. Brace for AI buzzwords, bratwurst bonding, and booth fatigue. With phones charged and livers steeled, attendees prepare to navigate this pixelated pandemonium. It can only mean one thing: #DMEXCO is upon us. The who’s who of #adtech are flocking to the conference — a place where hope springs eternal, no matter the industry’s woes. Last year, it was survival without third-party cookies in Chrome; the year before, advertising’s environmental footprint; before that, clawing back from the pandemic. Whatever catastrophe is on the docket, DMEXCO - Digital Marketing Expo & Conference remains the refuge. And guess what? This year’s no exception. In this piece by Seb Joseph, we speak to Peter Wallace of GumGum, Julia Linehan of The Digital Voice?, Lauren Wetzel of InfoSum, and Wilfried Schobeiri of Ogury.

Looks like big advertisers aren’t slamming the door on X just yet, even if their relationship with its owner, Elon Musk, is more drama than deal-making. How else do you explain 80 marketers showing up at #X's New York HQ yesterday (Sept. 17) for another client council session? It’s essentially X’s version of an upfront — where advertisers come to kick the tires and decide if the platform is still worth their ad dollars, despite the drama that makes it a risky bet. In this piece by Krystal Scanlon, we speak to Jasmine Enberg of EMARKETER.

CEO Jeff Green hinted that even if The Trade Desk was to dive into the smart TV OS space, it wouldn’t necessarily mean cutting into someone else’s profits. He pivoted his response toward a broader vision: infrastructure. Green seemed to suggest that the real focus isn’t competition but building a bigger, shared foundation for the future of TV #advertising.

In the age of disrupted digital audiences, media companies are incentivized to constantly be counting clicks, pageviews and engagement — all while optimizing for how those metrics can be best monetized. But Long Lead, a long-form #journalism production company, wants to redefine the journalism business model to bring art back into the craft of journalism. Launched in 2020 by founding editor and longtime journalist John Patrick Pullen and hedge fund manager Bill Perkins, Long Lead’s mission is to give journalists the ability to tell their story in the most effective way possible — not the most efficient way possible. So rather than publishing stories as quickly as possible and monetizing them with advertising or paywalls, a freelance journalist can come to Long Lead with a pitch and work with the team to determine its best format: be it a documentary, a podcast, a book or a performance piece. Long Lead then provides the journalist with the technical resources, staffing, time and — most importantly — funding to create the project. Granted, that’s not a cheap feat. And while Long Lead has the luxury of being funded without having to fulfill a revenue goal just yet, Pullen explained that the expense of operating a business like this won’t detract from the journalists themselves. In fact, the journalists are all able to keep their own IP from the projects they create with Long Lead once it’s finished. On the latest episode of the Digiday Podcast, Pullen shares why Long Lead is focused on supporting the art of journalism and how his team determines the best format for different stories that come across his desk.

Last year, the #esports company Nerd Street was teetering on the brink of becoming yet another casualty of esports winter. Today, the company’s emerged, battle-worn but standing, with a revamped business model and a fresh funding round — albeit at its lowest valuation ever. In this piece by Alexander Lee, we speak to John Fazio, Carleton Curtis, and Josh Chapman of Konvoy.

This year, interactive and immersive experiences that engage storytelling have become essential for brands to connect directly with audiences. Finalists for the 2024 Digiday Awards have also leaned on cross-platform collaboration, data-driven personalization and culturally relevant elements to ensure brand messaging is both meaningful and impactful.

As #adtech rivals sought to compete with Google nearly a decade ago, the adoption of header bidding was so monumental to fighting the giant’s grip on the display ad market that it played a part in at least one major player’s IPO roadshow. “We were so excited about header bidding that when we went public we had potential investors watch a [explainer] video first,” said Jed Dederick, who is now The Trade Desk’s chief revenue officer. “We felt there was the opportunity to compete meaningfully that we wouldn’t have without it.” Story by Marty Swant