Samsung Ads presented its NewFronts pitch in New York on Tuesday, where the electronics giant touted the reach of its devices and unveiled new additions to the Samsung TV Plus FAST service, including linear sports and music channels, as well as as new gaming experiences that promise advertising opportunities.
Opening the presentation, Michael Scott, Samsung’s vice president of advertising sales and operations, highlighted the company’s massive device ecosystem, where it ranks as one of the leading smart TV makers ( with its Tizen operating system, also widely adopted in the United States), as well as the world’s number one mobile phone brand and digital signage brand. He noted that three out of four American households own at least one Samsung device. And across its portfolio, the free, ad-supported streaming TV service Samsung TV Plus is available on more than 630 million active devices worldwide.
In touting the benefits for advertisers, the vice president cited a “360-degree view of consumers” enabled by its broad ecosystem and AI capabilities that generate data and insights to target and reach consumers, since their initial point of contact to their final point, whether that be on television. or mobile.
And while several parts of Samsung’s business can play together for advertisers, the TV experience was a priority at NewFronts.
“Today, the living room is much more than just a place to watch television. It’s really the center of the house, which makes it the most important piece of real estate in the media,” Scott said on stage Tuesday. “We are America’s first choice in television. More and more Americans are choosing to stream directly through their Samsung TV rather than through any other brand of smart TV or connected device.
New Sports and Music Content Partnerships – Creator, Featured Kids Content
As for new FAST programming, the latest sports additions include channels from Major League Baseball (MLB), PGA Tour, American Hockey League (AHL), and One Championship (MMA). Samsung TV Plus also launches the first-ever FAST Formula 1 racing channel.
The Formula One Channel will feature analysis, replays and documentaries covering F1, F2, F3 and F1 Academy races throughout the season. The MLB Channel will feature weekly replays of games as well as replays and recaps of minor league games in addition to exclusive content. For the AHL, STVP is the premier FAST platform streaming live league games via the Los Angeles Kings affiliate, Ontario Reign. FAST competitor Roku Channel recently launched a free linear NBA streaming channel – get TVREV analyst Alan Wolk’s take on why so-called “shoulder” sports content like that of the Roku-NBA deal is a smart move for leagues and FAST services, read here.
On stage, Samsung TV Plus’ Takashi Nakano said FAST focuses on strategic partnerships for programming genres it knows are important to agencies and their clients.
Through a separate partnership announced Tuesday, STVP is bringing more music to the mix.
During the presentation, he revealed an exclusive deal with Warner Music, which will complement a recently launched music hub with exclusive playlists, including The Drop (a VOD playlist tied to new album launches) and Artist Odyssey (a chronological journey through the universe of Warner. artist’s catalog).
In promoting its line to brands and agencies, Samsung Ads marketing manager Melissa Wasserman touted its smart TV audience and commitment to Samsung TV Plus (STVP). Citing internal research, Wasserman said the company analyzed time spent viewing each ad-supported app on Samsung devices and found that STVP had the highest engagement.
“That means more people are spending more time with Samsung TV Plus than any other streaming service showing ads,” Wasserman said. “Simply put, if you want to reach a relevant and influential audience and generate ROI in streaming, Samsung TV Plus is a must-buy.”
Although the executive did not share details about the engagement, the company previously disclosed in November 60% year-over-year audience growth for STVP as well as updates to the ‘user interface.
Wasserman also cited a survey of more than 50,000 people by the Advertising Research Foundation, which she said found that Samsung audiences have greater purchasing power and higher incomes than other OEM users , are better educated and are more likely to have children at home.
In addition to sports and music, Samsung TV Plus is focused on expanding creator content as well as children’s programming. It recently signed a deal with Mattel for three FAST channels aimed at kids and is launching a Blippi FAST channel. On the creator side, we’re building a new content library, starting with an exclusive channel called Animation Plus, featuring content from premium YouTube creators and offering over 600 hours of adult animation content.
While STVP had initially focused on its FAST linear environment, it is now working to expand on-demand programming – with plans to double the amount of VOD content this year, having already done so in 2023 .
Games come to commercial breaks QUICKLY
Samsung is also adding gaming elements to its TV platform and allowing advertisers to get in on the action. It plans to turn ordinary ad breaks on Samsung TV Plus into interactive gaming experiences, such as quizzes, that don’t require a console.
The first addition is called Rivals Arena, a cinematic card game from Return Entertainment that will be exclusive to Samsung TVs starting next month and can be played using any smartphone as a controller.
“Players can access directly from the Samsung home screen or Game Hub by simply grabbing their phone and scanning a QR code,” Samsung Vice President Cathy Oh said on stage. Advertisers can sponsor Rivals Arena with creatives shown as interstitials between gameplay and endemic brands can co-brand the full experience.
The second is The Six, an integrated interactive quiz game, available as an ad break on STVP and playable with a Samsung TV remote control. According to Oh, advertisers can personalize the experience, including custom backgrounds and themes for trivia questions.
Leveraging CTV and Mobile
The electronics giant is also looking to leverage the power of its devices with a new offering that uses CTV real estate to help drive subscriber acquisition and engagement across TV, web or mobile apps. his partners.
Previously available only to streaming app advertisers, the product, which uses AI capabilities, is now available across all advertising industries.
According to Samsung, the new offering allows advertisers to leverage space on Samsung Smart TVs “in combination with the company’s unique AI capabilities to acquire new users and drive engagement with their mobile apps.” Additionally, advertisers can demonstrate greater ROI by measuring return on ad spend through Samsung’s partnerships with industry-leading mobile measurement providers.
