Video adtech provider Beachfront will enable pay-TV operators to monetize their set-top box video on demand (VOD) viewing with ads sourced from programmatic video ad buyers. The move effectively bridges 2 worlds that have been mainly separate - traditional pay-TV VOD and real-time, dynamic digital ad demand.

Chris Maccaro, CEO of Beachfront, told me in an interview that in talking to various pay-TV operators and TV networks, under-monetization of VOD viewership remains a pain point, with up to half of all views not monetized optimally or at all. By enabling a select group of programmatic ad buyers to access this inventory, Beachfront is creating incremental VOD revenue.

Chris emphasized Beachfront’s solution can be plugged in as part of a waterfall, with traditional direct selling still taking priority. By doing so, the solution also helps solve for lack of predictability in viewing patterns - in other words, an especially strong night of VOD viewing that creates a higher level of inventory (or unacceptable frequencies for existing campaigns), can instead tap programmatic demand.

A persistent industry issue with programmatic TV approaches like this is that they raise the concern of devaluing inventory long term, as has been seen in display, for example. But Chris said he hears often from senior ad sales executives that this is a false thesis and that rates will remain strong as they have with addressable.

Beachfront has been working on its solution for the past 6 months and has already tested and completed a direct integration with a top 10 pay-TV operator.

Note: Chris Maccaro will be participating in VideoNuze's 9th annual Video Advertising Summit on May 29th in NYC on the session, “Virtual Pay-TV: What’s Next for Advertisers and Content Providers?” Save $100 on tickets and DOUBLE your chances of winning a 55-inch Roku TV Now!