Empower MediaMarketing Amongst First to Offer Local Broadcast Programmatic TV Transactions

Agency integrates technology and supply side for industry shift

Cincinnati, OH – March 16, 2015 – One of the nation’s largest independent media agencies, Empower MediaMarketing has laid the groundwork to transact programmatically with local broadcast television stations, through its investment in technology partner, Savveo, and its relationships with the supply side. “As programmatic buying is widely adopted across channels, agencies and brands will not win by bullying the supply side into our process. The entire industry must collaborate and that is what we have done with Savveo and Scripps,”

Empower CEO Jim Price said. “With our 30 years of experience in local broadcast television, we saw the opportunity and have spent considerable time building a transparent programmatic solution for local broadcast TV.”

Empower MediaMarketing has secured a partnership with The E.W. Scripps Company, the nation’s fifth largest broadcasting group. Along with its partnership and substantial investment in Savveo, a tech startup that focuses on the automation of buying and selling local media, Empower will continue conversations with major broadcast and cable companies such as Scripps.

“The progress we have seen through our relationship with Empower and Savveo has advanced our efforts,” Michael C. O’Brien, vice president of sales for the television division of The E.W. Scripps Company, said. “We will make local programmatic buying and selling in linear TV a reality in 2015.”

By completing this legwork, Empower will extend its digital programmatic buying solution ClearTrader to include programmatic solutions for local television. From its beginning, ClearTrade has emphasized transparency, allowing clients to have access to every detail behind their programmatic campaign.

In the second quarter of 2015, Empower and Savveo will execute local broadcast programmatic media with Scripps-owned TV stations.

“We are building within a burgeoning ecosystem and collaborating with companies who see this industry shift as a part of their future to the table,” Shafi Mustafa, co-founder and CEO of Savveo, said. “The shift to programmatic for traditional media is inevitable.”

Empower will continue programmatic tests throughout the summer and already under construction is a data management platform that will enable buys to be purchased with audience level data.

“We’re developing this capability alongside the tech community and the supply side so that all parties can benefit,” Price said. “And while some programmatic TV spots have made headlines, to my knowledge no other ad buying agency is doing this at the local television level.”

To learn more, visit empowermm.com

About Empower MediaMarketing
Empower MediaMarketing is one of the largest independently-held media agencies in the nation. It plans, buys and creates media and delivers proof its clients’ media investments are driving positive results. Empower can be found online at its website, as well as on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Primary Contact:
Chris Hoffman
(513) 719-6402
(513) 885-0910
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