TVNZ extends already-sold linear campaigns into streaming to boost digital fill rates
New Zealand state-owned broadcaster TVNZ is claiming a significant step forward in campaign management and ad monetisation for total TV (broadcast plus broadcaster streaming distribution) after making it possible to extend already-sold linear campaigns into digital at scale as standard practice.
TVNZ is harnessing the SureFire video ad server from Imagine Communications to allow linear buyers using its three broadcast channels to mirror portions of their linear campaigns in streaming on TVNZ+, its broadcast VOD service. It does this by booking digital ad-served inventory as if it were linear, without needing to overhaul existing systems.
Effectively, digital extensions to the linear campaigns become a new demand source for streaming and complement programmatic capabilities. The buys come with expected linear controls like guarantees of ad break placement (within streaming as well as linear). This linear-level control also applies to targeted ad spots.
According to Emma Quinn (pictured, left), director, UK product line management at Imagine, extension of linear buys into streaming with linear controls has been attempted by broadcasters for certain marquee events with other ad servers but comes with challenges that her company has overcome.
“Where this has been done before, it is highly manual, so not scalable and therefore not widely adopted,” she claims. “And often you do not get an absolutely guaranteed placement, as users [broadcasters and channel owners] are using existing feature sets of their digital-first ad servers — such as prioritisation — to try to force-place a spot into a desired piece of inventory.
“With SureFire, we are combatting both those issues.”
The deployment of SureFire at TVNZ follows a successful production trial in 2024 that demonstrated how the new linear control feature (for streaming) helped to extend linear broadcast budgets into digital and increase ad break replacement rates.
TVNZ previously had under-filled ad breaks on TVNZ+. If an acceptable threshold of demand was not met within a given break, the entire break was not dynamically served, resulting in a loss of revenue. The trial showed that the ability to extend already-sold linear spots into digital could be treated as a new and premium product by the broadcaster sales house.
SureFire is compatible with existing programmatic supply-side platforms and comes with open APIs for integration with existing adtech stacks. It can be used regardless of the sales, order management or traffic solutions a broadcaster or channel owner uses.
Graham Heap (pictured, left), vice-president of product strategy, adtech, at Imagine, emphasises that the linear control capability is creating incremental rather than replacement demand for streaming inventory.
“SureFire enables broadcasters to combine direct sales with programmatic automation to eliminate unfilled breaks and achieve higher CPMs. What the trial at TVNZ showed was that SureFire did not cut into the programmatic pie — it created more pie for everyone.
“I think a common industry misconception is that if you incorporate a new ad server into your workflow, you’re taking some of the profits from another ad server. It doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.”
The new approach means TVNZ can offer media buyers and viewers a more consistent advertising experience across its whole portfolio. Deployment of SureFire for linear-into-digital spot extensions is viewed as part of a journey towards a total TV mindset — with inventory monetised on a total TV basis.
John Fiddian, pricing and inventory manager at TVNZ, says: “Our audiences are watching the same content cross-platform. With viewers on broadcast channels and streaming on TVNZ+, it’s important that the way we serve advertising marries up with this audience fragmentation.
“Adding SureFire has helped our advertisers to seamlessly reach cross-platform audiences within a single campaign. It’s an efficient solution that fits our move towards total TV.”
Discussing SureFire more generally, Quinn says support for “digital extension spots” helps assure the best possible reach for campaigns.
In terms of incremental monetisation, she adds: “Each of our customers will come up with their own pricing policy, but the expectation is that a premium rate would be charged in the event that a linear spot is selected for digital extension. It will allow for a substantial percentage increase on the standard linear CPM.”