Rovi in Channel 4 connected TV ad trial

Digital TV technology company Rovi is carrying out interactive advertising trials in the UK, using ads from Twentieth Century Fox and Channel 4.

The movie studio and UK broadcaster will use Rovi’s advertising technologies to run advertising campaigns on connected TVs, Blu-ray players and other internet connected devices. They will offer interactive capabilities including multimedia graphics and video as a part of their campaigns to drive increased viewership and sales of their films and TV programmes.

Twentieth Century Fox and Channel 4 will also be the first companies to participate in a Rovi Smart TV Advertising Field Trial in the UK, which is a programme created to study how to effectively reach consumers via internet-connected devices. This follows launches in the US and Canadian earlier this year.

Rovi senior vice-president Jeff Siegel said results from the US and Canada indicate that interactive ads on connected TV devices have a ‘click rate’ of 10-15%, which is much higher than for internet ads. “The goal of the field trial is to give advertisers the chance to see how people are interacting with ads by getting some real data together. The research component is critical to make sure advertisers are confident they are getting value for their money,” he told DTVE Daily.