The long-held association between television advertising and the family couch is rapidly dissolving as media consumption becomes an increasingly mobile and public affair. For decades, the living room served as the primary battleground for brand messaging, but a profound shift is underway, driven by the proliferation of screens in nearly every commercial and public space imaginable. Advertisers are now grappling with a new reality where their target audience is just as likely to be watching a live sporting event at a local bar or catching the news in an office waiting room as they are at home. This fragmentation of viewership presents both a significant challenge and a massive opportunity, forcing the industry to rethink how it defines and engages with television audiences. The push is on to unify these disparate viewing experiences under a single, cohesive advertising strategy, transforming every screen into a potential point of connection and every public space into a new frontier for brand engagement.
The Programmatic Evolution of Public Screens
Tapping Into an Untouched Network
DIRECTV Advertising is spearheading a significant expansion into the digital out-of-home (DOOH) market by enabling programmatic access to its extensive commercial television network. Through an initiative announced at the Consumer Electronics Show, the company is making inventory on its “DIRECTV Remote” network available for automated purchasing, a move that allows brands to extend premium connected TV video campaigns into a multitude of public and commercial venues. This network, built on a vast national footprint of business clients, is experiencing rapid growth fueled by a new streaming TV solution tailored for small businesses. As a result, advertisers can now seamlessly place live TV ads in diverse environments such as corporate offices, medical waiting rooms, retail stores, salons, and neighborhood restaurants. The strategy not only unlocks new inventory but also redefines the concept of a television audience, capturing consumer attention throughout their daily journey and not just during their primetime viewing hours at home. Further expansion into premium hotels is planned for later in the year, solidifying the network’s reach across the consumer landscape.
Forging an Omnichannel Connection
The strategic integration of out-of-home television advertising into broader, omnichannel marketing campaigns marks a pivotal evolution in media buying. By enabling programmatic access, this initiative provides ad buyers with the same sophisticated automation and optimization tools they rely on for premium digital and traditional TV platforms. This technological bridge allows for a more holistic approach to advertising, where a campaign can follow a consumer from their living room television to the screen in their local coffee shop. To facilitate this seamless transaction, DIRECTV has forged an initial partnership with Place Exchange by Broadsign. This collaboration enables buyers to access the commercial TV inventory through major demand-side platforms (DSPs) like Basis and The Trade Desk. The initial launch sets the stage for wider availability in the coming months, promising to simplify the process of reaching engaged audiences wherever they consume live content and transforming fragmented viewership into a unified, addressable market.
A New Era for Measurement and Strategy
The Ascendancy of Video in DOOH
The industry’s growing appetite for video-based digital out-of-home advertising underscores a fundamental shift in how brands approach public-space marketing. Recent data indicates that screen and TV formats have now eclipsed traditional billboards to become the largest category in programmatic out-of-home ad spending. This trend is fueled by the advertiser’s desire to create a continuous and immersive brand experience that complements in-home viewing. The power of live events, particularly major sports, amplifies this demand, as these moments attract large, highly engaged audiences in public venues where shared viewing enhances the impact of advertising. By bringing live television inventory into the programmatic DOOH ecosystem, brands can now more effectively capitalize on these high-value moments, delivering timely and relevant video content to captive audiences in a context that is both social and dynamic. This convergence of live TV and DOOH provides a powerful new channel for storytelling and engagement beyond the confines of personal devices.
A New Framework for Performance and Impact
This expansion of programmatic video brought with it a renewed focus on standardized, reliable measurement to validate its effectiveness. To provide advertisers with clear performance insights, Place Exchange’s PerView measurement solution was utilized to deliver comprehensive reporting on essential metrics like reach, frequency, and total impressions. This approach aligned with the OAAA industry guidelines, offering a level of transparency and accountability that was previously difficult to achieve in the commercial venue advertising space. The ability to quantify campaign performance using familiar, cross-channel metrics allowed brands to confidently integrate this new inventory into their broader media plans and accurately assess its return on investment. This commitment to robust measurement was a critical component of a larger strategic vision, one that saw the convergence of satellite, streaming, and out-of-home platforms through a unified, automated buying process. This pivotal development ultimately provided brands with a more scalable and efficient path to connect with their customers across every screen.
