The Catalina 2024 Advanced TV (Digital) Glossary for Marketers & Advertisers
We are witnessing the next great evolutionary leap in television. Since entering mainstream America in the 1950s, TV has been growing and morphing.
In this latest TV transmutation, content is available on-demand and online from a growing lineup of direct-to-viewer providers. Viewers can consume content anywhere, anytime on connected personal devices.
It’s a flourishing landscape and with it comes a dizzying array of new terms and acronyms. Below is a glossary to help you speak the new TV language. CLICK HERE to access our 2024 Ultimate CTV Guide for CPG Brands & Agencies.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ad servers | Technology that provides centralized storage, tracking and delivery of digital media campaign assets. |
| Ad exchange | A digital marketplace that enables advertisers and publishers to buy and sell advertising space, often through real-time auctions. Most often used to sell display, video and mobile ad inventory (e.g., OpenX, AppNexus, Smaato, DoubleClick). |
| Advanced TV | The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s umbrella term for streaming TV content not watched through a broadcast, cable or satellite connection on a television; includes connected TV, streaming, video on demand (VOD) and programmatic TV. |
| Addressable TV | The ability to show specific ads to specific households watching the same program based on their interests, habits and demographics. |
| AVOD / ad-supported video on demand | An advertising-based revenue media distribution model that provides free content to viewers with ads that users must watch in order to view the content (e.g., YouTube). |
| CTV / connected TV | A television set connected to the internet via over-the-top (OTT) device, Blu-ray player, streaming box or stick, gaming consoles or a smart TV with built-in internet, capable of accessing a variety apps for consumption of long-form and short-form web-based content. |
| Data-driven linear | Targeting specific segments of linear TV audiences in a designated market area using data sets, such as TV viewing behavior, to optimize buys on networks, channels, genres and programming, as well as manage ad creative and frequency to reach to target audience segments. |
| Deal ID | Alpha-numeric identifier utilized to transact a private marketplace (PMP) via a demand side platform (DSP) |
| DMP / demand management platform | Technology service that allows the aggregation and normalization of disparate data sets for audience creation and advanced campaign analytics/reporting. |
| DSP / demand side platform | Software used to access and activate against publisher inventory |
| FAST / Free Ad-supported TV | Free ad-supported TV (FAST) apps host linear channels that deliver scheduled programming to a mass audience through connected devices. Examples include The Roku Channel, Tubi TV, and Pluto TV. |
| First-party data | Advertiser-owned or proprietary customer data. |
| First-party cookie | A small amount of text stored in the user's computer that is created by the website the user is visiting. By default, first-party cookies are allowed in every web browser |
| GRP/gross rating point | A metric used by media planners and buyers to determine how many people within an intended audience might have seen their clients’ ads. Calculated as a percent of the target market reached multiplied by the exposure frequency. For example, advertising to 30% of the target market with 4 exposures, equals a 120 GRP |
| Linear TV | A traditional broadcast/cable system in which a viewer watches a scheduled TV program broadcast at a specific time on its original channel. Programming also can be recorded via DVR for later viewing |
| MVPD / multichannel video programming distributor | A cable or satellite TV service that provides multiple television channels (e.g., Comcast, Cox Charter, DirecTV and DISH). |
| Open auction/ exchange | Programmatic transaction type with auction-based pricing with many buyers and many sellers |
| OTT / over-the-top | Targeted ad delivery on programmatic platforms via internet-connected TV sets. |
| PMP / private marketplace | An invitation-only real-time bidding (RTB) auction in which only one publisher, or a limited number of publishers, offer their ad inventory to a select group of advertisers or buyers |
| Programmatic | A digital media buying tactic that uses real-time systems, rules and algorithms to automate the delivery of data-driven, targeted and relevant experiences to users as they interact with a brand's various touchpoints. |
| Programmatic guaranteed | A direct and guaranteed deal between a publisher and advertiser (or buyer) for a reserved amount of inventory; purchased as a flat rate vs. a dynamic cost per thousand impressions (CPM). |
| RTB / real-time bidding | The process by which digital ad inventory is bought and sold on a per-impression basis in an instantaneous auction format. |
| Second-party data | First-party data made available to another advertiser for their use via partnership. |
| Smart TV | An internet-connected, storage-aware television with entertainment apps preloaded. |
| SVOD / subscription video on demand | A subscription-based media distribution model in which users pay a recurring fee to access unlimited content. Examples include Netflix, HBO and Disney+. |
| Third-party data | Consumer information collected by companies that don't have a direct relationship with consumers |
| Total video | The collective term for all providers and platforms in which content is available for viewing by consumers, including linear broadcast, cable or satellite connection on a television; connected TV, streaming, video on demand (VOD) and programmatic TV. |
| Trading desk / programmatic buying unit | Organization within an agency holding company whose main function is to purchase ad inventory programmatically on behalf of multiple clients |
| TRP / television rating point | A measure of viewership and popularity of a particular television program or channel |
| vMVPD / virtual multichannel video programming distributor | Distributors that aggregate live and on-demand television and deliver the content over the internet; examples include Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, DirecTV NOW, fuboTV, Hulu Live, PlayStation Vue, Roku Sling and YouTube Live |
| VOD / video on demand | Media distribution system that allows users to access video entertainment without a traditional video entertainment device and without the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule |
CLICK HERE to access our 2024 Ultimate CTV Guide for CPG Brands & Agencies.