Invidi, which provides media companies with addressable TV advertising platforms, will continue operating independently under the three companies’ ownership.
Each company will have representatives on the company’s board of directors. AT&T will hold a controlling interest, adding that “AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.”
Financial terms of the new deal were not disclosed.
Since 2007, WPP Group has had a minority stake in Invidi. Irwin Gotlieb, global chairman of WPP’s GroupM, has been on the company’s board of directors.
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Invidi already has major distribution in the U.S. -- including platforms operated by AT&T (including DirecTV), Dish Network and other pay TV companies. Addressable TV ads delivered via Invidi’s technology targets matched to “thousands of demographic or psychographic attributes.”
In a statement, Dave Downey, CEO of Invidi, said: “Maintaining our independence and deepening our existing relationships with AT&T, Dish and WPP is a big move for our company and our people.”
AT&T AdWorks manages advertising inventory across national advertising-supported cable networks, as well as live, linear addressable advertising to more than 14 million homes as well as managing data from more than 35 million set-top boxes.
AT&T's current annualized advertising revenues are $1.5 billion.
Dish Media Sales has addressable advertising on about 100 networks to more than 8 million U.S. homes through Dish Network and Sling TV platforms.
WPP's partial ownership of Invidi was a conflict of interest writ small and is now writ large. Clients, watch your wallets.