BlackArrow Unveils New Solutions for Pay-TV Operators to Open Dynamic Advertising to Programmer Affiliates

BlackArrow Unveils New Solutions for Pay-TV Operators to Open Dynamic Advertising to Programmer Affiliates

Ad Router, Business Suite Open National Inventory to Dynamic Ad Insertion

NEW YORK, April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --BlackArrow, a worldwide provider of advanced advertising solutions for New Television platforms, today announced new capabilities of the BlackArrow Advanced Advertising System that enable service providers to work with programming networks to expand the sale, placement and measurement of dynamic advertising insertion across IP and traditional pay-TV platforms.

The BlackArrow enhancements, Ad Router technology and a Business Suite of software tools, allow service providers to offer programmers an expanded menu of options to control and manage their ad inventory. The new products enable the use of third-party ad systems, or the BlackArrow Campaign Suite, for fulfillment of programmers' national ads across a service provider's multiple platforms. Moreover, the enhanced BlackArrow system enables pay-TV business models and affiliate agreements that already exist between service providers and programmers to be extended across new video delivery platforms.

The Ad Router, a component of the BlackArrow Decision Suite, is designed to reside at the operator's data center and control and mediate all real-time advanced advertising workflows, including ad routing requests that are based on various platforms and inventory owners. The Ad Router allows operators to send national and local ad avails to different Ad Decision Services (ADS), enabling programmers and local sales organizations to use their existing campaign tools for real-time ad fulfillment. The Ad Router also can route ad requests from different platforms to different ADSs, streamlining cross-platform consistency for operators in business policies, reporting and measurement.

The BlackArrow Business Suite enables programmers to manage metadata and avails, or placement opportunities, against their content. Programmers can specify how ad loads change through programming windows, such as the key C3 measurement timeframe, can gain visibility into asset availability at the operator plant, and can dynamically remove or replace "baked in" ads in on-demand content without having to re-pitch assets.

"The solutions that will move on-demand, multi-platform advertising forward most quickly are those that bring new value to service providers' and programmers' current investments and relationships," said Chris Hock, senior vice president, product management for BlackArrow. "The BlackArrow Ad Router and Business Suite have been designed to ensure seamless interoperability with existing infrastructure and third-party ad systems for service providers and their programming partners."

Currently commercially deployed and in trials with major operators, the Ad Router and Business Suite are compliant with SCTE 130 and other standards, leverage existing multi-vendor ecosystems and support both IP and QAM infrastructures from a single deployment. As a result, service providers can keep operational costs low, while retaining control of privacy information and important data flows.

BlackArrow will be demonstrating the Ad Router and the Business Suite at the Cable Show May 21-23 in Boston.

About The BlackArrow Advanced Advertising System
The BlackArrow Advanced Advertising System is used by service providers such as Comcast and Rogers Communications to manage the technological complexities and business issues associated with advanced advertising across multi-platform pay-TV environments. The BlackArrow Campaign Suite enables ad sales organizations to define, manage and monetize multiplatform, multioperator advertising campaigns to reach viewers that increasingly consume time-shifted programming on their televisions, computers, tablets and smartphone devices. For service providers, the BlackArrow Decision Suite offers open, standards-based ad routing, ad decisioning, and proven system interoperability to streamline deployment in complex operator distribution environments. For content providers, the BlackArrow Business Suite offers advanced tools for managing avails, or placement opportunities, as well as ad policies, ad sales rights, and asset metadata.

About BlackArrow, Inc.
BlackArrow is a leading worldwide provider of advanced advertising technology for New TV platforms. The company's multiplatform advertising system is designed specifically for video content distributed over any on-demand platform, enabling networks and content distributors to maximize advertising revenues. BlackArrow is privately held, and backed by Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Comcast Ventures, Intel Capital (NASDAQ: INTC), Mayfield Fund, Motorola Ventures (NYSE: MMI), NDS Group, LTD., Polaris Venture Partners and Time Warner Cable. The company has offices in New York City and San Jose, Calif. http://www.blackarrow.tv

BlackArrow is a trademark of BlackArrow, Inc. CableLabs®, is a mark of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

SOURCE BlackArrow, Inc.

BlackArrow, Inc.

CONTACT: Paul Schneider, PSPR, Inc., for BlackArrow, +1-215-817-4384 (office), +1-215-817-4384 (mobile), pspr@att.net

Web Site: http://www.blackarrow.tv

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