Katz, Horizon And Entercom Partner On Programmatic 'Expressway' With GEICO

Partners With Horizon And Entercom

KATZ RADIO GROUP, which represents more than 3,000 radio stations as their exclusive agent for National Spot Inventory, in partnership with GEICO and HORIZON MEDIA, has made the first-ever live programmatic transaction for spot radio, in a pilot test utilizing its new advertising exchange, "Expressway from KATZ."

The activation is airing on multiple ENTERCOM stations, across various markets this week.

EXPRESSWAY FROM KATZ, is described by the company as, "an agnostic programmatic buying exchange designed to include all radio broadcasters." It is being developed by KATZ RADIO GROUP to make radio even more attractive and easier to buy, allowing advertisers and agencies to achieve improved ROI through better audience segmentation and consumer targeting; transparency of campaign delivery through real time monitoring; and improved efficiency.

“An industry-wide programmatic buying solution in audio allows us to better identify the most effective, targeted and efficient audio environments, enabling marketers to create a richer and more engaging connection with consumers,” said GEICO VP/Marketing TED WARD.  “This platform will give us better visibility into what programs, stations and day-parts have the best opportunity for increased engagement to further reinforce the value of audio as a key driver in our marketing mix.”

"A programmatic buying solution in the audio industry gives the agency and advertiser more viewability in real time on key data sets and streamlines the negotiation process,” said HORIZON MEDIA SVP/Managing Dir./Audio and Promotions LAUREN RUSSO. “The ability to track in real time provides greater accountability and the opportunity to not only optimize, but more importantly to prove and reinforce the ROI associated with investments in audio."

“With more and more dollars being shifted to programmatic buying, it was crucial for our industry to evolve our capabilities to allow for the inclusion of radio in this rapidly growing segment of the advertising industry,” said KATZ MEDIA GROUP CEO MARK ROSENTHAL. “Radio has a phenomenal opportunity to drive new, substantial revenue to our sector by creating the media world’s first industry-wide programmatic buying exchange. Katz, with its incredible footprint across the country, is uniquely positioned to deliver the industry-wide programmatic solution.  Through programmatic, radio can provide new tools to advertisers to buy more effectively and achieve improved ROI – a huge win for advertisers, agencies and the radio industry.”

EXPRESSWAY FROM KATZ will allow an advertiser’s campaign to be delivered and monitored with the utmost transparency. The exchange will provide real-time reporting that shows an up-to-the-minute status of the buy (including creative execution used; number of spots run; number of impressions delivered, etc), allowing advertisers to follow, adjust and enhance their campaigns.

“Programmatic buying for radio is not about rates or pricing; it’s about providing the most desirable targeted inventory that leads to a better ROI.  KATZ’s programmatic exchange will streamline the buying process with data insights on the quality of inventory, which in turn will allow clients to get more from their budgets, and focus on more return on every dollar spent,” said KATZ RADIO GROUP Pres. MARK GRAY.  “Programmatic also has the ability to make a largely labor intensive process far less manual. Instead of spending time on repetitive steps, the technology will alleviate administrative burdens, allowing sellers to focus more on creative solutions and increasing ROI for advertisers.”

HORIZON MEDIA and KATZ have placed the programmatic buy and will monitor the delivery and performance of the campaign through a cloud-based platform powered by JELLI. To build its exchange, KATZ partnered with JELLI, an already established player in the programmatic space.  JELLI operates a cloud-based ad delivery technology solution that will be integrated across all stations, allowing advertisers and agencies to buy spot radio, market-by-market, as they do today.

“KATZ is creating an agnostic exchange that can run equally well across virtually all platforms – a truly comprehensive, industry-wide solution,” said JELLI CEO MIKE DOUGHERTY. “We are developing the EXPRESSWAY FROM KATZ exchange to be responsive to all agencies and advertisers buying and planning software, making inventory available any way they want to buy. It is also designed to intelligently select the best available inventory based on the buyers’ specifications.”

ENTERCOM is providing inventory for the live pilot transaction in both the BOSTON and BUFFALO markets.

“This live programmatic transaction is an innovative milestone for the radio industry," said ENTERCOM CIO JOHN GRAEFE.  "Radio has always provided unmatched value, and using technology, we can streamline and simplify the buying process to bring the speed, ease and precision of programmatic buying to our advertising partners, matching or exceeding the capabilities of any other media sector.”

STRATA has built connections for EXPRESSWAY FROM KATZ to integrate with its buying systems. This integration provides STRATA clients, such as HORIZON MEDIA, with the most efficient buying process available.

“This programmatic initiative is another example of STRATA’s long history of innovation and progress with our clients, KATZ MEDIA GROUP and HORIZON MEDIA,” said STRATA Pres. JOY BAER. “The EXPRESSWAY FROM KATZ integration enables huge efficiencies for terrestrial radio buying and allows buyers to execute programmatic buys easily in the context of their overall audio budgets. We are thrilled to be a part of this ground breaking initiative in audio.”

EXPRESSWAY FROM KATZ is scheduled to launch in early 2016.

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