SANTA BARBARA, CA \u2013 NBCU has brought audience optimization technology in-house, developing its own algorithms and making it more responsive to market demands, says Denise Colella. NBCU had been using market-available software for its optimization activity, the company\u2019s SVP, Advanced Advertising Products & Strategy, says in this interview with Beet.TV at the recent Xandr Relevance Conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have now developed our own algorithms, we have a full development team, and we\u2019re able to really custom develop it to match our inventory,\u201d Colella says. \u201cNobody knows our inventory structure better than us. So this allows us to innovate more quickly and to respond to the market more nimbly as well.\u201d<\/p>\n NBCU makes all of its advertising supply available through its audience optimization product. \u201cWhether it\u2019s programmatic TV or linear optimization, whatever\u2019s available will be made available through those platforms. We don\u2019t differentiate,\u201d Colella<\/a> adds.<\/p>\n \u201cTypically, the live sports programs and our big-ticket items will obviously go on sponsorship. But if something hasn\u2019t been sold we make it available.\u201d<\/p>\n In April of 2018, NBCU joined the TV audience-targeting consortium OpenAP led by Fox, Viacom and Turner. In so doing, it brought its in-house Audience Studio\u2019s data capabilities to boost the platform by integrating them into OpenAP\u2019s standardized data sets, as ADWEEK reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been spending a lot of time to really understand what we can bring to bear and how best to work with the group so that we can make it easier for our advertisers to buy on an audience basis,\u201d Colella says of OpenAP.<\/p>\n