NCC I+ Overview
NCC (formerly National Cable Communications) has introduced its NCC I+ initiative for local advertising. It allows NCC sellers and local cable sales reps from Time Warner, Cox and Comcast to sell local commercials on DIRECTV, AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS. Prior to this initiative, local cable ads were not inserted in these systems.
The offering is varied across 56 markets with a total projected delivery of 11.2 million telco and satellite homes. Local insertion will be limited to 23 networks on DIRECTV in 25 markets, on AT&T U-verse in 35 markets, and on Verizon FiOS in 14 markets. Only two markets, Los Angeles and Dallas, will offer insertion on all three satellite / telco services.
Additional Advertiser Resources:
The I+ Offering in 56 DMAs (PDF)
Key Questions for Your Cable Guy
ADS & Wired Cable Penetration by DMA
DirecTV/NCC Media Partnership
Distribution
Once a satellite order is sold by the cable company, the process for playing and monitoring spots is complex:
- Spots are stored on each individual DVR hard drive until a cue is sent from the program distributor to play.
- Each DVR box has a unique code mapped to a specific DMA.
- DirecTV spot verifications are projected via a sample-based audit through third-party processor, Kantar Audiences.
- A pass / fail notification is sent to INVIDI who feeds the data to the markets.
Key Questions for Advertisers
Marketers are asking important questions about this new technology, as they would about any medium in which they invest.
- What are the points of failure in the delivery of my ads to DIRECTV, to the consumer's DVR hard drive, and to the viewers?
- If the DIRECTV consumer must have a DIRECTV box with a DVR for this to work, how many TV sets in the market have that DVR box? It is estimated that less than half of DIRECTV homes have a DVR.
- If the spot verifications are projected, how can I be sure that my spot actually ran?