Pay-TV provider BSkyB recently launched its own analytics tool – AdSmart – for serving ads to users of Sky's online TV offering, Sky Player. AdSmart, aggregates subscriber information so that ads and promotions can be more effectively tailored to Sky's 9.7 million paying customers.
"Advertising is one of our most substantial revenue streams after subscriptions," says Stephen Nuttall, Sky's commercial group director.
Nuttall won't say how much more AdSmart could add to the pay TV operator's coffers but the direction of travel is clear. The AdSmart system was launched on Xbox consoles in the UK this month (Sky offers some of its pay-TV subscriptions to Xbox users) and it will be launched on Sky-enabled mobile phones this summer. The big next step is adding AdSmart to Sky+ PVR boxes so that TV ads can be targeted for Sky's main pay-TV service. "We think advertisers will be delighted to pay higher rates because their ads are tailored to their audience," says Nuttall.
