WideOrbit and Hudson MX Expand Partnership--Making it Easier and More Profitable for Media Buyers and Sellers to Transact Local Broadcast TV Ads

USA - English

• USA - English

SAN FRANCISCO, June 11, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Building on the successful integration of Airtimes, WideOrbit and Hudson MX are now focused on improving the pre-buy and order stewardship processes for media buyers and broadcasters. The two companies have been collaborating on streamlining processes and leveraging TIP Protocols to eliminate the time-consuming tasks that can make local TV buying slow, costly, and inefficient. Through the tighter integration of the two platforms, the combined offering will bring the speed, accountability, and results that marketers are increasingly demanding from their media investments.

This partnership brings together two companies committed to immediately enabling modernization of the process for buying and selling local broadcast television. WideOrbit's WO Traffic, a broadcast station group system of record, is used to manage more than 90% of U.S. local TV ad revenue. Hudson MX is working to level the playing field—both in terms of ad budget share and workflow management—between buyers of local TV and their digital media peers. Since January of 2019, Hudson MX's BuyerAssist ™ has already been used to transact $2 billion in local ad buys among 700 buyers and 3,000 sellers across 30 of the largest agencies and all 210 markets.

The workflow improvements will come through an integration of Hudson MX's BuyerAssist ™ platform and WideOrbit's Unified Sales Console through the AgencyCloud API suite. By working directly with Hudson MX, WideOrbit is building tools that fit immediately and seamlessly with current agency workflows. Integrations are in process with full end-to-end solution available by the end of Q3 2019, in order to support all 2020 buys.

"Buyers deserve modern tools that free up time for them to focus on delivering the full value of local TV to their brands" said JT Batson, CEO and Founder of Hudson MX. "In collaboration with our visionary agency partners, we have developed a new platform that not only empowers buyers, but is also capable of integrating seamlessly with a broadcaster's existing systems. We were very excited that WideOrbit jumped on board as our first official partner. We are grateful to Eric and his team for the enthusiasm, speed, and urgency they've brought to this effort. The result is that their broadcasters will be ready to take full advantage of the benefits of this new partnership for all 2020 buys. Their meaningful investment sets the standard for how others can step up to help grow the local broadcast ecosystem."

"The WideOrbit-Hudson MX partnership is a big win for local TV advertising buyers and sellers," said Eric R. Mathewson, Founder and CEO at WideOrbit. "Buyers will benefit from workflow modernization that streamlines the entire buying process, while leaving buyers and sellers in complete control of their inventory. Now that local buyers have modern tools and data at their fingertips they can continually deliver superior results for advertisers in less time. Thus, stations should see more interest from national brands in their local broadcast TV audiences and inventory."

Mathewson continued, "By deepening our relationship with Hudson MX, WideOrbit delivers on our promise of continually improving solutions that allow ad buyers and sellers to do business however they choose. We will continue to focus on products, integrations, and innovations that make local broadcasting as compelling to ad buyers as any other type of media."

The WideOrbit / Hudson MX Partnership is further evidence of the two companies' continued support for the TIP Initiative. TIP (Television Interface Practices) is an industry working group dedicated to promoting open interfaces to streamline advertising transactions for local TV broadcasters and their media agency partners.

The Airtimes API, pre-buy, and stewardship tools will be available in Q3 2019. Contact [email protected] or [email protected] to learn more.

About WideOrbit
WideOrbit is the technology platform for media companies to connect audiences and ads, everywhere. Its mission is to simplify media buying and selling by focusing on innovation, customer delight, and value creation for both sides of media transactions. Starting with its core traffic management solution, WideOrbit centralizes operations and streamlines workflows for radio, cable, and television companies. The company continues to introduce new benefits to the media industry, including a programmatic media exchange for increasing demand for advertising inventory and improving campaign efficiency.

WideOrbit is headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide. Customers include NBCUniversal, Tribune Media, Entercom Communications, Gray TV, TEGNA, AMC Networks and many other top media companies around the world. Learn more at wideorbit.com.

About Hudson MX
By creating modern software that empowers the buyer of the future, Hudson MX is leveling the playing field between local TV buyers and their digital media peers. In 2019 its BuyerAssist ™ platform was used to process $2 billion of local media buys for 30 leading agencies in 210 markets, servicing 294 national advertisers. The world's most respected media agencies and sellers are partnering with the Company to bring the process of local TV buying into the 21st Century for the benefit of today's advertisers. Hudson MX is looking to build on its initial success and expand its offerings by recruiting the best and brightest for its New York and Atlanta dual headquarters.

Media Contacts:
Code Morris for Hudson MX

Andy Morris
[email protected]
917.710.1802

Pete Holmberg
[email protected]
917.501.7434

SOURCE WideOrbit