Matthew Henick Archives - Media Play News

In what it calls “the next step … to optimize connected-TV advertising,” The Trade Desk Feb. 24 announced the launch of the Ventura Ecosystem.

The Ventura Ecosystem is an industry collaboration that brings global TV operating systems and streaming platforms together to create a more-transparent and revenue‑optimized marketplace. The Ventura Ecosystem lets participants leverage Ventura’s monetization toolset to help unlock more revenue opportunities.

The intent is for Ecosystem contributors to gain access to increased programmatic demand, better CPMs, and stronger fill rates through seamless access to The Trade Desk’s ad tech solutions, which include OpenPath, Unified ID 2.0/EUID, OpenAds, and, soon, OpenPass.

V (previously VIDAA TV OS), which powers more than 50M connected devices worldwide, and Nexxen, are the first companies to join the Ventura Ecosystem.

“While media consolidation may receive the attention, streaming’s future depends on something else: a healthy ecosystem with fair platforms and advertising that works,” said Matthew Henick, SVP of consumer products at The Trade Desk. “Most TV operating systems today are owned by companies that are focused on their own agendas, rather than strengthening the broader marketplace and creating winning opportunities for everyone. The Ventura Ecosystem is different; we’re building it together with contributors, like V and Nexxen, to create an open marketplace centered around collaboration and delivering value to all Ventura Ecosystem participants.”

The Trade Desk is an independent technology platform (Demand-Side Platform, or DSP) that allows advertising buyers to manage, optimize, and buy data-driven digital advertising campaigns across various channels, including video, display, audio, social and CTV. The Trade Desk’s Ventura is a streaming platform designed to drive a fairer and more transparent streaming ecosystem for OEMs, advertisers and media publishers.

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Facebook Watch, the social media behemoth’s streaming video platform launched a year ago, is expanding worldwide. The platform will be available to Facebook users globally beginning Aug. 30.

The move comes more than two years after Netflix launched globally, and Amazon followed expanding Prime Video to 200 countries in December 2016.

“This is a really important moment for us,” Fidji Simo, head of video at Facebook, said in a statement. “It’s been a year of real progress for Watch. Every month, more than 50 million people in the U.S. come to Watch, and the total time spent has increased 14 times since the start of 2018.”

Maybe, but according to recent data from The Diffusion Group, more than 50% of Facebook users don’t know what Watch is. And fewer still use it. A noteworthy statistic considering Facebook is spending upwards of $1-2 billion on original content for the platform.

Content includes access to select professional soccer and Major League Baseball games, “SKAM Austin,” an episodic teen drama series, based on the Norwegian Web series “Skam,” and “Red Table Talk,” a talk show starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Banfield-Norris that premiered on May 7 and reportedly has nearly 3 million viewers.

Matthew Henick, head of content planning and strategy and media partnerships at Facebook, said worldwide access to Watch would help third-party publishers and content creators better monetize their videos and better understand how their content is performing.

“[We’re] excited to bring a new distribution platform to our partners around the world,” he said.