The cable industry’s push to add value to its advertising by making it addressable may go public in as little as six weeks.
Canoe Ventures, owned by the big cable operators, will allow marketers to buy a national ad and send different messages to different demographic groups simultaneously.
Canoe President David Verklin said that, for example, American Express could run a commercial for its green card, but send a spot for its gold card into homes in 370 areas where household income averages more than $100,000 a year.
Mr. Verklin, speaking at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s Cable Show ’09 in Washington, estimated that about 18 million homes would get the gold card ad in that scenario, while 48 million would get the green card ad.
Two networks have already signed on.
But addressable advertising is not likely to become a big factor in the ad market for at least a couple of years.
“I don’t think it’s going to be transformative in the next 18 months,” said NBC Universal Television Chief Operating Officer Jeff Gaspin. “It’s not going to change the way we go to market.”