COMCAST, CHARTER AND VIACOMCBS ANNOUNCE BLOCKGRAPH PARTNERSHIP

Comcast Corporation, Charter Communications, Inc., and ViacomCBS announced that they have committed to an agreement to take equal ownership of Blockgraph, an industry initiative and software platform designed to securely gather aggregated and anonymized data and share information. The purpose of the deal is to introduce a new way to use audience data for advanced TV and premium video advertising. By using Blockgraph technology, media companies can help marketers form insights across their collective platforms without only relying on third parties. “Bringing better data to television for planning, targeting and measurement represents a huge opportunity for our industry, and above all, for advertisers,” said David Kline, Executive Vice President, Charter, and President, Spectrum Reach. “To recognize this opportunity, however, we need to continually and fully ensure that we can use data in a way that protects the privacy of users through technologies that facilitate aggregated and anonymized use of our data. This is an ongoing concern to be addressed collaboratively across the industry, which is why we are so supportive of Blockgraph.”

Blockgraph launched in 2017 and remained under wraps within Comcast Advertising’s technology unit, FreeWheel. Since then, its purpose was to become a collaborative industry solution, with Charter and ViacomCBS serving as its earliest supporters. “When we began to develop Blockgraph several years ago, we knew that the ability to apply data-driven insights to all media, including TV, in a way that protected privacy, was going to be hugely important to the future of our industry. Now, some three years later, that couldn’t be truer, and the alternative that Blockgraph offers could not be more valuable,” said Marcien Jenckes, President, Comcast Advertising. “We are thrilled to partner with ViacomCBS and Charter as we continue to roll out Blockgraph and look forward to working with new partners and customers in the months ahead as platform adoption grows.”

Jason Manningham previously managed Blockgraph under FreeWheel, but now he’ll lead the new joint venture as chief executive officer. Marketers are seeking  new ways to maximize advertising investments and measure results across screens. Publishers and distributors, meanwhile, are looking for ways to differentiate their content and media through data. Manningham assures that data connectivity, control and secure enablement are at the center of what Blockgraph provides. “The value that Blockgraph brings to the industry has never been more important,” Said Manningham. “Together with Comcast, Charter, and ViacomCBS, we have the opportunity to reshape data-driven advertising in a way that’s better and more sustainable for brands, publishers, content distributors, and above all else – audiences.”

Among the early adopters of Blockgraph technology is Comcast’s NBCUniversal, which initiated efforts to integrate Blockgraph into their AdSmart platform. “Data confidentiality is a necessity for addressable advertising to work at scale. Blockgraph is a platform that will make that easy to implement,”said John Halley, Chief Operating Officer, Advertising Revenue, and Executive Vice President, Advanced Marketing Solutions, ViacomCBS. “We are committed to solutions that enable us to better serve our advertising partners. Blockgraph has the right business approach and partnership framework to successfully move the video ecosystem forward.”