Apr 20, 2021

The TV ad industry is racing to become more digital, leading to consolidation by advertising firms that help marketers make, buy and measure TV ads. In the latest example, 700-person Extreme Reach, a 13-year-old adtech company, has acquired rival Adstream for an undisclosed price. Adstream's 400 employees will join Extreme Reach. Extreme Reach sells advertisers technology that helps them organize the workflow of video and TV ads, including planning ad creative, casting, paying talent, and estimating the cost of creating a commercial. It also helps them them use data to pick which messaging and creative will work best on TV versus online video. Extreme Reach declined to name clients. Adstream, similiarly, sells software that marketers use to manage their video ads. Its clients include Publicis Groupe, AT&T, Dentsu, and Omnicom. Extreme Reach also runs an ad server that can place video ads on websites and apps, which Adstream doesn't have, CEO Daniel Mark said. "It's about giving clients a competitive advantage," Mark said of the rationale for the deal. The deal also signals TV advertisers are increasingly using automation to manage their ad campaigns. Extreme Reach and Adstream are among the growing number of adtech companies looking to cash in as ad dollars move from traditional to streaming TV. Their technology helps marketers balance TV and digital video ad spend to better find audiences that are watching video across multiple screens. Other rival video adtech firms include Innovid and Comcast's FreeWheel. The Adstream acquisition follows other TV adtech deals, like Comcast's acquisition of Beeswax last year and Magnite's agreement to acquire SpotX in February. Was this article valuable for you?