The TVB announced 21 television broadcast groups and two Rep firms have committed to date to TVB ePort, an eBusiness platform that will enable a new wave of open-standard electronic transactions between advertisers, agencies, broadcasters and station reps.
The trade organization also announced that Chicago-based Spot Buy Spot will build the platform and that the first phase would launch in November, enabling Spot TV buyers to send Q1 2008 orders electronically. The entire suite of open standard transactions–from avail through invoice for stations' airtime, websites, digital subchannels and other multiplatform offerings–is expected to be available through TVB ePort by March 2008.
"The station groups have stepped up to the plate and underlined the broadcasting industry's commitment to TVB ePort," said TVB President Chris Rohrs.
Among the broadcast groups that have committed to TVB ePort to date are Belo Corporation, CBS Television Stations (and its rep firm), Citadel Communications, the Dispatch Broadcast Group, Duhamel Broadcasting Enterprises, E.W. Scripps Company, Emmis Communications, Fisher Broadcasting Inc., Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst-Argyle Television, LIN Television Corp., Media General Broadcast Group, Meredith Broadcasting, NBC Universal Television Stations (and its rep firm), Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Pappas Telecasting Companies, Post-Newsweek Stations, Quincy Newspapers, Raycom Media, Sagamore Hill Broadcasting, and the Tribune Company.
"We are very pleased that Spot Buy Spot will be our developer in creating a platform that will eliminate time-consuming and error-prone re-keying in the selling/buying process," said Abby Auerbach, TVB EVP, who is spearheading the project. "We want to free sellers and buyers to have more time for professional negotiation of our airtime, websites and other digital assets, by reducing time spent on stewardship."
SBS EVP Paul Levy will lead the SBS/TVB project, bringing years of industry perspective in eBusiness. In addition to spearheading SBS' eBusiness initiatives, he was the former CEO of the AdValue Network, which introduced groundbreaking eBusiness capabilities and drew significant participation in the spot television industry.
