Foxtel Media is partnering with global TV advertising platform tvbeat to convert linear TV spots into digitally tracked and reported impressions, as announced at Foxtel Media’s 2025 Upfronts.
The translation of linear ad impressions into digital aims to enable improved audience targeting, ad analytics and programmatic trading of linear ad buys.
Despite linear subscribers representing 30% of total subscribers, booking and trading linear impressions has historically been a difficult process. Linear impressions are more rigid and fixed, with limited demographic targeting and reporting.
Conversely, digital ad impressions are more malleable, enabling ads to be personalised, precisely targeted, and reshaped based on the viewer’s behaviour.
According to tvbeat research, inflexibility with linear impressions means that 30-50% of linear ad spot inventory is currently undervalued, despite containing high-quality audiences and premium content.
Through Foxtel Media’s work with tvbeat, a standard linear demographic buy can be switched to a data-lead behavioural buy to reach a more targeted audience, within a premium brand safe environment, and with detailed post campaign impression reporting.
By identifying and converting these to digital impressions, each impression can be better monetised and measured, resulting in 70-90% increased inventory value.
In early 2025, brands and agencies will be able to trade all Foxtel Linear channels as digital buys that can be bought through direct insertion order or programmatic workflow to help drive campaign efficiency.
Foxtel Media chief sales officer Nev Hasan,said Foxtel Media’s partnership with tvbeat is a game changer for its linear offering and will provide far greater flexibility for advertisers.
"Linear audiences still hold huge value and this value should not be held to ransom by outdated trading and analysis," he said.
"The conversion to digital impressions opens the opportunity to move a once standard demographic buy into a highly targeted behavioural segment using our Characters product. Linear impressions can then be traded programmatically - still brand safe and premium – and be included in the reporting with the rest of a digital buy."
tvbeat CEO Robert Farazin said the Foxtel Group supplies high-quality content but the demand for traditional, spot unit-based buying is shifting to audience impression-based buying.
"Working with Foxtel Media, our solution will capture the opportunity of growing CTV demand, resulting in less waste, higher yield and better buyer ROI for advertisers on linear TV," he said.
"By automating the sale, delivery and measurement, advertisers can enjoy much greater ease-of-execution and enhanced reporting."
tvbeat currently provides set-top box measurement services for Sky Media in the UK which is independently verified and audited by RSMB. It also provides advertising optimisation services for Sky Media in the UK, Italy and Ireland, and CFlight services.
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