RTL reviews targeted ads units
August 28, 2019
RTL Group has announced that the Group’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors have decided a strategic review of its ad-tech businesses.
With immediate effect, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, as RTL Group’s largest business unit, takes over the responsibility for the Group’s ad-tech businesses in all European markets (except the UK), bundled under the brand Smartclip. The UK will continue to be the hub that centralises the operations for SpotX Global in Europe. SpotX and Smartclip will continue to work closely together to deliver leading technology and monetisation solutions to existing and new European clients. For Smartclip, the objective is to create an open ad-tech development unit, based on the technology developed by Smartclip and custom-tailored for the needs of European broadcasters and streaming services. Accordingly, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland will further invest in evolving and growing the Smartclip platform.
In parallel, RTL Group has begun reviewing strategic partnerships for the SpotX Global business. SpotX is positioned as a leading platform to monetise digital video, including premium video-ondemand (VOD) and live TV streamed to any internet-connected TV device. SpotX will continue to operate on a global basis, serving some of the world’s largest media owners, device manufacturers, platform operators and publishers. In February 2019, SpotX fully acquired the UK-based video technology company Yospace. With its advanced solutions for dynamic server-side ad insertion, Yospace further complements the SpotX platform, providing one of the leading solutions for monetising high-quality video streaming across Europe, the US and Asia.
Thomas Rabe, CEO of RTL Group, said: “New partnerships and state-of-the-art advertising technology are key success factors for our Total Video strategy. The strategic review of our ad-tech businesses serves both goals: firstly, it facilitates partnerships in Europe and the United States. Secondly, it bundles efforts and resources to build a competitive European advertising technology platform. With our alliances and partnerships, we are actively shaping the future of the European Total Video industry – from content creation to ad sales and technology.”