Many of the biggest tech changes happening in TV are being led by legacy media companies. NBCUniversal is selling targeted TV ads in an attempt to take ad dollars back from digital giants like Facebook and Google. It also joined an ad targeting consortium that includes Turner, Viacom and Fox.
Sales representatives showed the most concern among those polled. Regarding the tech changes occurring around TV ad selling, a quarter of the surveyed reps said they were very concerned, and another 43% said they were somewhat concerned. By comparison, just 8% of TV station members were very concerned, and 31% were somewhat concerned.
Overall, 46% of respondents felt that the tech advancements happening in the TV industry are a threat to their organization’s existence. Again, the fear was highest among reps, with 87% saying that tech changes threaten their firm. There is no doubt concern that the expansion of programmatic TV could extinguish traditional methods of brokering inventory.
Sales reps lack the resources to buy or build their own tech, according to Dave Morgan, CEO of TV ad targeting company Simulmedia. This makes them more vulnerable when new technologies replace old ways of TV ad buying.