SM Channel 4 has earned a valuable reputation THE DYNAMIC AD INSERTION COMPANY for excellent user experience across its online services, a reputation built up over 10 years, and there was a strong awareness of the need to provide a true broadcast-quality service, that put the experience of the viewer first, throughout the project. Viewer expectations of live broadcasting have been set by years of watching tradition- “Yospace’s solution stood out be- al television - a form that allows the viewer to sit back and enjoy being fed high quality cause of its ability to plug into so programming without any discrepancies in many key elements at different points the feed – and Channel 4 knew these high of the broadcast workflow” expectations must be met in order for its live streaming service on All 4 to be a success. David Amodio, Digital and Creative Leader Channel 4 Television Therefore, well known idiosyncrasies of online video advertising, such as buffering, experience,” Amodio said. spinning dials, flashes of the underlying stream between ads, out-of-sync insertions Yospace’s platform was tasked with creating and recurring stream failure, were not and delivering a stream that is unique to tolerated in this implementation – there was a each viewer, a process that must be carried need for ads to be replaced so accurately that out in real time and at a scale that serves a the viewer didn’t notice any change. national broadcast audience that is counted in millions. Once the viewer pressed play, they should perceive nothing but the single continuous THE SOLUTION live stream they expected to see. Yospace’s server-side advertisement replace- ment solution was deployed across all live ONE-TO-ONE channels on All 4 (Channel 4, E4, More4, What really set this project apart from any Film4, 4seven) in November 2015. The de- CASE STUDY: ENABLING DYNAMIC other, though, was the level of personalisation ployment marked a groundbreaking marriage that could be applied to replacement ads. of first party data and technology which al- AD REPLACEMENT FOR ALL 4 lowed Channel 4 to leverage its user data and All 4 has over 13 million registered users, a monetise All 4’s live streams in a way that figure that is rising rapidly, and benefits from avoided disruption to the user experience. The THE CHALLENGE an extensive evaluation process, Channel an advanced level of audience insight that attention to detail required in achieving such 4 chose Yospace’s Dynamic Ad Insertion Channel 4 has developed over 10 years of seamless and personalised viewing set this In 2015, major UK broadcaster Channel 4 platform. In this case study, we’ll look at how innovation. Users signing up to the free-to-air project apart from any others that had gone launched a new, groundbreaking TV every- Channel 4 implemented Yospace’s technology service share information such as name, gen- before. where platform, All 4. The high profile project and the innovations that paved the way for a der, age and location, which allow Channel 4 sought to not only replace its hugely success- truly ground breaking project. to provide each viewer with bespoke content “Yospace’s solution stood out because of its ful on demand service, 4OD, but to add its full and related experiences. ability to plug into so many key elements at portfolio of live channels too. “Monetising the live channels in All 4, in a different points of the broadcast workflow,” user-friendly way, was absolutely crucial.”, said “We wanted to extend this principle into said Amodio. “It allowed All 4 to achieve a In order to do so, an effective monetisation David Amodio, Digital and Creative Leader, advertising and place the viewer front and level of seamless personalisation that had not solution needed to be applied, and, following Channel 4. centre of a personalised, broadcast-quality been thought possible before.” KEY INTEGRATION POINTS to FreeWheel who instruct Yospace which sible task,” continued Amodio. “Not only are broken time and again through a succession ads to stitch into the stream. live streams being delivered on All 4 that re- of live events, the broadcaster is well placed Playout: At the point of stream creation, flect the undisturbed continuity of traditional to point the way forward for the industry as Yospace formed a link between encoder and Content protection: Another important benefit television, but they can be monetised through- a whole. The All 4 project goes a long way automation systems that allowed ad markers of Yospace’s platform in taking this approach out the duration of the viewing session, too.” towards reaching the Holy Grail of TV adver- to be injected precisely at the point that ad is that it allowed Channel 4 to replace ads Through a combination of the sit-back nature tising – a strategy for personalised advertising breaks begin and end. without disrupting the content protection of live television, excellent user experience for live simulcast. It also secures Channel 4’s (DRM) policies applied to its live channels. and personally tailored advertising, the value position as a major player in online broadcast- Ad Server: Yospace’s integration with Channel of All 4’s live inventory is greater than other ing for many years to come. 4’s ad server, FreeWheel, was the centre- broadcast mediums. piece of the implementation, and repre- sented a real technological break-through “View-through rates are reaching CONNECTED CONSUMER AWARDS “View-through rates are reaching 98%,” said in television. Yospace’s system polls the ad On 5th May 2016 Yospace and Channel 4 98%” Amodio. “An astonishing figure that, signifi- server for new ad creatives, which are then were awarded a prestigious Connected Con- cantly, is higher than the Network Average.” transcoded to match exactly the encoding David Amodio, Digital and Creative Leader sumer Award by Mediatel for the innovative profile of Channel 4’s live streams. This Channel 4 Television ad insertion project in All 4. In recognising Channel 4 is not only benefitting from the approach allows transitions from the under- the achievements of the project, Mediatel monetisation of a large element of its inven- lying stream to/from replacement ads to be Newsline’s editor David Pidgeon said: SUCCESS tory it was otherwise unable to access, but seamless for the viewer. Later on in the it is safeguarding the long-term future of its workflow, FreeWheel’s scalable ad decision- “Live streaming was a key requirement when “The judges were right to see such good live channels at a time when its tech-savvy ing system chooses, in real-time, which set All 4 was launched on browsers, mobile and things in Yospace’s submission for its work audience, which includes over 50% of 16-34 of ads to deliver to each viewer and provides tablet platforms, and very quickly we found with Channel 4 – as the company has since year old “millennials” in the UK, continues to the instructions that allow Yospace to perform a strong appetite among our viewers,” said gone on to win contracts with Sky and ITV. I move online. personalised ad stitching. David Amodio, Digital and Creative Leader at feel this is the start of something very big.” Channel 4. “This discovery told us we were Having won broadcast rights to Formula One Stream Manipulation: By managing the man- right to realise the importance of a broad- racing and the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, ifest, or playlist, file for each streaming ses- cast-standard user experience.” demand for Channel 4’s premium live pro- sion the Yospace system is able to control the gramming is at an all-time high. In a period content delivered to each individual viewer. “Yospace’s world-leading technology was able where online viewing records are being When an ad marker is detected a call is made to crack what had previously been an impos- All 4 logo and imagery courtesy and © Channel 4 Television Ltd..