Bell Media Sales Partners with Index Exchange to Launch Private Programmatic Marketplace in Canada

– Launch makes Bell Media premium video inventory available programmatically for the first time, while offering a brand-safe environment and optimal customer experience –
– More than 10 of Canada's top media buying companies already connected to the platform –  

TORONTO, April 12, 2016 /CNW/ - Bell Media announced today its entry into the programmatic advertising market via a partnership with Index Exchange and the launch of a private programmatic marketplace for preferred Bell Media clients. The programmatic offering features all of Bell Media's top-quality brands, including its premium digital display and video inventory, now available for the first time through real-time bidding (RTB) and programmatic reserve.

Bell Media's new private programmatic marketplace is a fully customized combination of automation and data from Index Exchange. Aimed at helping marketers apply data and automation to premium media inventory, the service also delivers safeguards to ensure that automated transactions are handled transparently. 

"Our move to embrace programmatic comes at a time when advertisers are increasingly demanding premium content for their programmatic buys," said Stuart Garvie, President, Bell Media Sales. "In the early days of programmatic buying, the focus was on technology at the expense of quality inventory. Today, with our private, premium marketplace, we are pleased to marry top-tier programmatic technology with the high-quality, fraud-free display and video inventory that our advertisers expect and deserve."

"We are delighted to welcome Bell Media into programmatic; together we are going to help shape and accelerate the Canadian programmatic landscape," said Andrew Casale, President and CEO, Index Exchange. "Buyers have learned the hard way that not all impressions are created equal, having witnessed first-hand the dangers of ad fraud and non-brand-safe inventory. We expect Bell Media's premium inventory to be in extremely high demand and we are thrilled that they have trusted us to make it available to the market."

With more than 10 of Canada's top media buying companies already connected to the platform, Bell Media clients get exclusive access to the company's premium inventory with the option to programmatically target specific audiences when the ad runs, ensuring they get the scale and the placements they want. Bell Media's programmatic reserve allows clients to secure high-quality inventory with efficiency and targeting of programmatic as well as the reliable scale of a direct buy.

"We're delighted to add Bell Media's premium inventory to our extensive pool of Canadian publishers," said Tom Fotheringham, General Manager at Accuen, Omnicom Media Group's programmatic agency. "Our advertisers are keen to have first choice of premium inventory across screens and formats and we value publisher-direct inventory and the curation and control it affords us. Adding Bell Media display and video inventory is a huge win, giving our advertisers more control over the media buy and allowing for better performance and qualified audience delivery."

About Index Exchange
Index Exchange (www.indexexchange.com) provides a neutral, transparent exchange layer that enables leading publishers and suppliers to sell their ad impressions in real-time. Formerly known as Casale Media, Index equips enterprise-level sellers with custom-architected solutions, fully transparent sell-side management technology, and access to the latest in technical knowhow for programmatic demand while still ensuring the highest in brand-safe creative standards by ensuring humans-level review for all proposed campaigns.

About Bell Media
With passion and an unrelenting commitment to excellence, Bell Media creates content and builds brands that entertain, inform, engage, and inspire audiences through the platforms of their choice. Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. Bell Media owns 30 local television stations led by CTV, Canada's #1 television network; 35 specialty channels, including TSN and RDS, Canada's most-watched specialty channels in English and French; and four pay TV services, including The Movie Network and Super Écran. Bell Media is also Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 106 licensed radio stations in 54 markets across Canada. Bell Media owns Astral Out of Home, one of Canada's most dynamic and innovative out-of-home advertising companies with a network of more than 10,500 advertising faces in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Québec, and Nova Scotia. Bell Media also operates more than 200 websites; delivers TV Everywhere with premium subscription on-demand streaming service CraveTV, as well as its innovative GO video streaming services including CTV GO, TMN GO, and TSN GO; holds an equity stake in digital startup Hubub; is partners in Cirque du Soleil Media, a joint venture with Cirque du Soleil; and owns Dome Productions Inc., a multi-platform production company. Bell Media is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. For more on Bell Media, please visit www.bellmedia.ca.

SOURCE Bell Media

Eleni Tenuta, Bell Media, 416.384.3530 or [email protected]