London, UK: The European Programmatic TV Initiative (EPTVI), led by thought leadership and advisory collective The Project X Initiative, today announced the addition of prominent industry advisors, and new partnerships with OpenX, a leading independent supply-side platform for audience, data, and identity targeting, and Google Ad Manager, Google’s supply-side platform for publishers and broadcasters across all formats and screens including CTV.
In addition to welcoming OpenX and Google Ad Manager – alongside existing partners The Trade Desk, PubMatic, Equativ, Magnite, Cadent, and Adform – the Initiative has also recruited a number of leading industry executives to join two advisory groups to help guide its strategic direction.
The buy-side advisory group includes executives from leading agency groups and media independents across Europe, including Nicole Ferguson, Managing Director Growth, GroupM Competence Center, Germany; and Ana Camara, Senior Director, Global Investment at GroupM, along with other key agency leaders involved in TV and programmatic media planning and buying in Europe’s major markets.
The sell-side advisory group includes executives from major European broadcasters and streamers, including Martin Leach, Director of Operations at Sky Media; Richard Brant, Senior Director, Advanced TV, Strategy & Partnerships at Vevo; Ed Chalmers, Head of Trading at Channel 4; Joe Connors, VP of Programmatic & Advanced Advertising at DAZN; Chris Edwards, Senior Director of Media at Rakuten Advertising; and Dina Roman, SVP of Global Advertising Sales & Operations at Fubo.
The Initiative was established to help support and drive adoption of programmatic TV in Europe’s major advertising markets, which significantly lag the US. By bringing together leading media owners, media agencies and ad tech providers, the initiative seeks to break down critical barriers to make buying and selling programmatic TV easier, and develop a clear roadmap for the future of TV advertising in Europe.
Jon Watts, Executive Director, The Project X Initiative, commented: “OpenX, Google Ad Manager and the senior executives who have joined our two advisory groups bring deep expertise in Europe’s TV and advertising markets. Their insights will help us tackle critical challenges and develop practical solutions that make programmatic TV more effective and accessible. This initiative is about turning shared knowledge into action, and we very much look forward to working with them and our other partners to drive real progress in this highly dynamic market.”
Geoff Wolinetz, SVP, Publisher and Demand Platforms, OpenX said: “By bringing together key stakeholders across the ecosystem, we can make greater strides to build solutions that resonate with the wider marketplace. As part of this initiative, we will be listening closely to the challenges facing broadcasters and buyers with the goal of building confidence in the biddable ecosystem for all players involved. By doing this work together, we aim to unlock the full potential of Programmatic TV advertising so the market can benefit from the best of both the linear and programmatic models.”
Justin Gupta, Head of Broadcast & Video Ads, EMEA Sellside Partnerships, Google, said: “Over the past few years, streaming and Connected TV viewership have grown significantly, bringing the broadcast industry to the brink of a major shift – addressable TV advertising at scale. Programmatic TV advertising in Europe must evolve to capture this opportunity and to get there the industry needs to collaborate on an aligned approach, and Google is eager to contribute.”
Dina Roman, SVP, Global Advertising Sales & Operations, Fubo. said: “Fubo was an early leader in establishing a strong and thriving programmatic CTV pipeline to propel its North American advertising business forward. Now we are joining forces with an impressive collective of industry leaders to advance programmatic advertising across Europe’s burgeoning TV landscape. We’re delighted to be a founding member of The European Programmatic TV Initiative at the forefront of innovation.”
PXI is currently engaging with the Initiative’s partners and advisors, and other key players, to pinpoint the key challenges and priorities for advancing programmatic TV in Europe’s major advertising markets. In the coming months, the Initiative will host a series of seminars to explore these issues in depth, leading up to an in-person industry summit in London in the autumn. There, the members of the Initiative will present a shared vision and roadmap for the future of programmatic TV in Europe.
For more information, please contact Jon.Watts@projectxinitiative.com or Ian.Maude@projectxinitiative.com.
About The Project X Initiative
The Project X Initiative is a thought leadership and advisory collective focused on the media, advertising, entertainment, technology, and sports industries. We provide an expert-led approach through our unique team, who offer decades of senior management and board-level experience, and combine the professionalism and rigour of the best consultancy firms with a flexible engagement model adapted to each client’s needs. www.projectxinitiative.com.
About OpenX
OpenX is an independent omnichannel supply-side platform (SSP) and a global leader in supply-side curation, transparency, and sustainability. Through its 100% cloud-based tech stack, OpenX powers advertising across CTV, app, mobile web, and desktop, enabling publishers to deliver marketers with improved performance and dynamic future-proofed solutions. With a 17-year track record of programmatic innovation, OpenX is a direct and trusted partner of the world’s largest publishers, working with more than 130,000 premium publisher domains and over 100,000 advertisers. As the market leader in sustainability, OpenX was the first adtech company to be certified as CarbonNeutral™ and third-party verified for achieving its SBTi Net-Zero targets. Learn more at www.openx.com.
About Fubo
With a global mission to aggregate the best in TV, including premium sports, news and entertainment content, through a single app, FuboTV Inc. (d/b/a Fubo) (NYSE: FUBO) aims to transcend the industry’s current TV model. The company operates Fubo in the U.S., Canada and Spain and Molotov in France.
In the U.S., Fubo is a sports-first cable TV replacement product that aggregates more than 400 live sports, news and entertainment networks and is the only live TV streaming platform with every Nielsen-rated sports channel (source: Nielsen Total Viewers, 2023). Leveraging Fubo’s proprietary data and technology platform optimised for live TV and sports viewership, subscribers can engage with the content they are watching through an intuitive and personalised streaming experience. It was the first virtual MVPD to launch 4K streaming and MultiView, which it did years ahead of its peers, as well as Instant Headlines, a first-of-its-kind AI feature that generates contextual news topics as they are reported live on air.