CBC Launches Video Header Tag With Index Exchange

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - July 25, 2016) - CBC and Index Exchange, the principled exchange for publishers, announced today that CBC has enabled header bidding for video. This marks CBC as the first Canadian media publisher to integrate header bidding for video through Index Exchange's technology.

CBC's partnership with Index Exchange dates back to August 2013. CBC was also one of the first publishers to adopt Index Exchange's header bidding technology for display. Through the video integration, CBC can now offer buyers access to their high-value audience, ultimately increasing the value of their private marketplace -- while enabling programmatic guaranteed and reservation buys.

With CBC's new header tag integration, the buy-side now has visibility over the publisher's inventory from the top-down. "The vast majority of inventory is monetized by direct sales and by the time programmatic becomes enabled, the majority of data rich users are gone. By enabling header bidding for video, buyers now have exposure to our video inventory at the top of our ad stack and are able to see their audiences," said Jeff MacPherson, Director of Monetization Platform and Services at CBC. "It has been well documented that video supply is constrained in this market and we are excited to be partnering with Index Exchange to change that."

This partnership marks a significant change for how video inventory is sold. Header bidding for video enables publishers to sell a very specific amount of their inventory programmatically, at a premium, while continuing to prioritize direct buying partners' commitments. Traditionally, video content was dominated by a manual direct sale, where the considerable majority of a broadcaster's video content is sold upfront. By the time a programmatic impression is available, the supply has often dissipated.

"This integration provides CBC with the knowledge of what 100% of their video impressions are valued at through the exchange, at the impression level." said Brad Jeffrey, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at Index Exchange. "With this information, CBC can start to get pretty creative as to how they incorporate programmatic video into their workflow."

From the publisher's perspective, this is lucrative because it permits insight into the true programmatic value of an audience. Alongside the scale of direct buys, programmatic allows for agnostic bidding and more precise targeting. It's an effective and efficient means of transacting, and a faster, more sophisticated solution that instills confidence in the monetization and creative possibilities of this programmatic world.

About Index Exchange

Index Exchange (www.indexexchange.com) is the principled exchange for publishers. The people behind Index engineer the best technology to create a neutral, transparent exchange that enables digital publishers and suppliers to sell their ad impressions in real time, and gives them the data, knowledge and context they need to understand and act.

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. We are Canada's trusted source of news, information and Canadian entertainment.

Deeply rooted in communities all across the country, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages. We also provide international news and information from a uniquely Canadian perspective.

For more information including series synopses, press releases, hi-res images, video clips and bios, please visit the CBC Media Centre at cbc.ca/mediacentre.