SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 As are their national counterparts, local television broadcasters are trying to come to grips with the pace of digital-linear convergence. But if they collaborate with one another, the technological tide is flowing in their direction.<\/p>\n
So says Bruce Roberts, President of WideOrbit, in this interview with Beet.TV at the platform provider\u2019s WideOrbit Connect<\/a> conference. In fact, the annual gathering is all about collaboration.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to work more closely with all our clients as their business changes and it changes at an incredible pace and equally as important they need to collaborate with each other,\u201d says Roberts. \u201cHopefully collectively we can start providing solutions that help them resolve the issues that they\u2019re dealing with today and more importantly about what they\u2019ll deal with in the future.<\/p>\n He describes the opportunities posed by technology and data as enormous. \u201cThey really are. There\u2019s a lot of good technology coming forward that\u2019s going to allow them to increase their existing revenue streams as well as open up new opportunities of other revenue streams.\u201d<\/p>\n A prime example is the newly approved ATSC 3.0 Internet-protocol-based standard for local broadcasters. The \u201cdirect-to-consumer type of delivery\u201d will enable more precise audience targeting and reach given its potential among people who don\u2019t pay for a cable or satellite package.<\/p>\n Roberts believes that more dollars will flow into local TV as automation and programmatic transactions gain a bigger foothold. \u201cMuch more so than what was going out of the medium, going over to network or digital,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n WideOrbit\u2019s Open Marketplace programmatic platform provides access to open-bid linear TV inventory for demand-side platforms. \u201cThey\u2019re buying quality programming, quality inventory and they\u2019re basically able to guarantee all of that through attribution. So it\u2019s a great new opportunity in that area,\u201d says Roberts.<\/p>\n On the private marketplace side, WideOrbit clients can white label Open Marketplace and, using Deal ID, enable advertisers to plug directly into those clients\u2019 inventory.<\/p>\n