Sky AdSmart

Sky launched AdSmart, its addressable TV advertising product, in the UK in January 2014; it lets households watching the same programme see different ads in the same live break.^1,2,3,4,5,6 As launched, Sky sent a library of ads by satellite to the hard drive of subscribers' Sky+HD set-top boxes, and each box inserted the ads matching its household's profile into live breaks.^1,2,3,7 Targeting is built from household attributes such as location down to postcode, age, household composition and affluence, plus third-party data such as Experian's.^1,2,7,8,9 In July 2019 AdSmart extended to Virgin Media's UK TV footprint for both linear and on-demand ads, with Sky Media as exclusive sales agent across the network.^4,10,11,12 In September 2019 Channel 4 agreed to use AdSmart for addressable ads across its linear channels, including UKTV and BT Sport, in both Sky and Virgin Media homes.^6,13,14 Source 1: engadget.com Source 2: marketingweek.com Source 3: thedrum.com Source 4: tvbeurope.com Source 5: videoweek.com Source 6: csimagazine.com Source 7: informitv.com Source 8: diginomica.com Source 9: thedrum.com Source 10: advanced-television.com Source 11: thedrum.com Source 12: informitv.com Source 13: thedrum.com Source 14: advanced-television.com