Sydney, Australia ā€“ Finecast, GroupMā€™s addressable TV business, has partnered with Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) to make connected TV (CTV) advertising better, and help advertisers reach bigger audiences through BVOD campaigns.

The partnership, which is done also with Xandr, will utilise the strength of ā€˜Header Biddingā€™ technology on CTV campaigns, representing a positive shift in the access capabilities for addressable TV, whilst maintaining the benefits of buying flexibility.

The ā€˜Header Biddingā€™ technology has long been a part of the digital media ecosystem creating a fairer and more competitive programmatic marketplace for publishers. This provides increased access to inventory for buyers and greater transparency and visibility of available inventory for marketers. By allowing advance bidding on inventory from multiple ad exchanges simultaneously, header bidding reduces the inefficiencies of a sequential waterfall approach.

John Miskelly, APAC investment director at GroupM, said, ā€œThis is an exciting development in the connected TV/OTT video space where we can harness the agility and addressability of programmatic and have access to the best inventory. The broadcasters are doing a great job as TV transforms, and SBS and Finecast are demonstrating true best practice for access and innovation in the CTV ecosystem.ā€

Meanwhile, Lee Callagher, national digital operations and technology manager at SBS, commented, ā€œBeing able to prioritise both direct and programmatic demand whilst maintaining our premium ad experience is important for SBSā€™ future commercial strategy. Working with Finecast to successfully bring ā€˜Header Biddingā€™ to connected TV enables greater scale and reach for advertisers in BVOD.ā€

Australia ā€“ SBS, Australiaā€™s broadcast company, has today launched SBS WorldWatch, an all-new free-to-air multilingual news channel. The dedicated 24-hour channel features news bulletins from leading international broadcasters in more than 35 languages and is home to SBSā€™s Arabic and Mandarin television news bulletins ā€“ SBS Ų¹Ų±ŲØŁŠ News and SBS äø­ę–‡ News. The launch of the channel builds on SBS’ expanding range of multilingual services for audiences across TV, radio and digital platforms. 

James Taylor, managing director of SBS, said, ā€œOur multilingual strategy sits at the heart of SBS and we are very excited to extend our offering with the launch of the SBS WorldWatch channel today, which sees us further expand our in-language news bulletins for people whose preferred language may not be English.ā€

ā€œFrom today our Mandarin and Arabic news programs, which we soft launched on SBS OnDemand earlier this year, will have a prime-time home on the SBS WorldWatch channel -a very real demonstration of how we are delivering on our Charter in providing both local and international news to these communities,ā€ added Taylor.Ā 

SBS WorldWatch broadcasts international news services from 30 countries ā€“ bringing Australians different perspectives from around the globe, and enabling culturally and linguistically diverse communities to catch up on world news in their preferred language. 

Produced by two dedicated teams of bilingual journalists and broadcast in prime time, SBSā€™ new locally produced half hour Arabic and Mandarin television news bulletins – SBS Ų¹Ų±ŲØŁŠ News and SBS äø­ę–‡ News – provide impartial coverage, insightful context and balancedanalysis of the major national and international stories, in language, every weeknight.Ā 

SBS Director of News and Current Affairs, Mandi Wicks, said the launch of SBS WorldWatch is a further demonstration of SBSā€™ commitment to meeting the needs of a culturally and linguistically diverse Australia. 

ā€œSBS is uniquely placed to reach and engage the many Australians who speak a language other than English, and we are thrilled to be evolving and enhancing our offering with the launch of SBS WorldWatch. It is exciting to be increasing our commitment to more SBS-produced multilingual news through the Arabic and Mandarin bulletins, ensuring access to relevant and current news for two of Australiaā€™s largest and fastest growing language communities,ā€ said Wicks. 

SBS WorldWatch expands SBSā€™s commitment to providing comprehensive news and information across its network – in English through SBS World News, and in more than 60 languages across SBS Radio services, podcasting, and digital platforms – and the multilingual services the network has been delivering to Australians for more than 45 years. 

SBS WorldWatch is available on free-to-air television (channel 35) and on SBS On Demand from today. 

SBS WorldWatch is the networkā€™s sixth free-to-air channel joining SBS, National Indigenous Television (NITV), SBS VICELAND, SBS Food and SBS World Movies. 

Malaysia ā€“ Media Prima, the media and entertainment company in Malaysia, has partnered with Koreaā€™s broadcast network, Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), to produce the Malaysian edition of the Korean hit reality show, ā€˜Master In The Houseā€™.

ā€˜Master In The House Malaysiaā€™, which consists of a one-hour ten-episode, follows the journey of five participating Malaysian celebrities, namely singer and songwriter Hael Husaini, actor and actresses Andi Bernadee, Scha Elinnea, and Sharifah Rose, and rising star Meyrasam from local girl-group CASSIA. Together, they will be learning new skills and wisdom from eight reputable masters, who are successful in their own right but aspire to take their careers to the next level.

Among the master line-up, which includes Korean and Malaysian talents, is Thailand-born Korean idol, BamBam, who has proven his explosive global popularity as a member of the K-pop idol boy group, GOT7. The line-up also includes Song Sung Deuk, performance director and choreographer for the worldā€™s biggest boy band, BTS.

Moreover, joining the master line-up from Malaysia are actor Datuk Yusof Haslam, singer and songwriter Datoā€™ Sri Siti Nurhaliza, badminton legend Datuk Rashid Sidek, celebrity chef Sherson Lian, celebrity chef, and WAU Animation’s founder and CEO Usamah Zaid.

Nini Yusof, the deputy CEO of Media Prima and Primeworks Studios, shared that they are privileged to have collaborated with SBS, learning from the finest throughout the experience, especially during the 10-day filming session with their Korean counterparts in October 2021. 

“We are confident that the ideas, knowledge, and capabilities exchanged will enable us to raise the bar and deliver more top-notch content with international production value,ā€ said Yusof.

Media Prima said that it also secured some exciting brand collaborations, including Korean ginseng brand CheongKwanJang (CKJ) as the main sponsor, hygiene soap leader Lifebuoy as the co-sponsor, and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G powering ā€˜Master In The Houseā€™. 

The new show will air every Saturday, from 10.00 pm to 11.00 pm on TV3, starting 15 January 2022.

Australia ā€“ Television network SBS in Australia has partnered with Spotify and Publicis Media’s ROI agency Zenith for its new media campaign called ā€˜Demand Differentā€™.

The campaign, which runs until July 2021, aims to build a customized digital experience to drive new audiences to SBSā€™s video streaming platform, SBS On Demand, and reconnect with its lapsed viewers. 

Through the partnership, Zenith will be tapping into Spotifyā€™s enhanced algorithms to curate a custom SBS weekly playlist based on a userā€™s unique music preferences. Spotify users in the free service will be targeted via audio and display ads across platforms, while its paid subscribers are targeted on social media. 

Users will all be directed to a ā€˜Spotify X SBS On Demandā€™ microsite where they can opt in to be served a weekly SBS playlist based on their music preferences. This will allow SBS to showcase the breadth and depth of its SBS On Demand back catalog as a world-class streaming destination while opening up a new world of programs, genres, and key sporting events to Spotify listeners.

Zenith Sydney’s Managing Director Jonny Cordony shared that the team at Zenith has worked hard to differentiate from other performance-driven campaigns, and as part of this, they identified music as a core consumption opportunity within the streaming community.

“We were able to showcase hero programs and hidden gems across various content pillars in a completely customized way, curated based on their music preferences,ā€ said Cordony.

Meanwhile, Pieter Manten, the regional head of sales at Spotify AUNZ, said that the breadth and depth of their data and insights offer a level of targeting which is unparalleled with any other audio format, as they are with their 11.9 million users every day.

“The opportunity to collaborate with SBS and Zenith to combine our insights represents a best in class approach to targeting, as we are not only driving new audiences but creating unique and customized experiences for users across both platforms,ā€ said Manten.