AT&T’s advertising company has said that they will be introducing pause ads to Epix and Starz channels on DIRECTV and AT&T TV Now.
We first learned about pause ads toward the end of 2018, when AT&T and Hulu were both working on ads that would appear when viewers paused their DVR recordings. Then, at the end of 2019, AT&T began rolling out pause ads on some devices, specifically on HBO channels. Hulu now also has pause ads when you stop your show or movie on Hulu.
Pause ads start 30 seconds after a viewer pauses their TV. The ads are animated but silent. Epix and Starz are the next channels to get the ads, according to Xandr, AT&T’s advertising company, as reported by Broadcasting Cable. The ads will appear on live, on-demand, and recorded content.
“We want to make sure that we’re matching the great content experience with great advertising experiences,” said Matt Van Houten, Xandr’s senior VP, product development.
Xandr, and others who are testing out pause ads, hope that this will be another option for advertisers with minimal disruption of the viewing experience for consumers. The technology being developed by Xandr could allow advertisers to better target their audience through third party measurements, while consumers would benefit from frequency caps that would prevent the same ads appearing over and over.
We’ll likely be seeing pause ads on more channels and across more devices for AT&T TV Now this year.
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