Medialaan, Belgium’s leading commercial broadcaster, is using server-side ad insertion to help monetise its Stievie online service, which includes 20 linear channels plus catch up. Here, Pieter Coucke, Solutions Architect at Medialaan and Tim Sewell, CEO at Yospace, explain how they have enabled a benchmark streaming user experience that also increases advertising yield. The service features lighter per-session ad-loads, more relevant advertising and the ability to skip through commercials you have previously seen. On a per-session basis, some ad inventory is being sacrificed but Stievie now attracts more viewers who watch for longer, raising total ad inventory across the service. Because ads are being replaced, they can be charged on a per-impression basis and Medialaan is asking higher prices because they are targeted. The overall effect is that both viewer satisfaction and ad revenues have risen.
