Here Comes A New Local Media Buying Platform

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Media executive JT Batson and a team of sell-side, buy-side, linear, and digital professionals have teamed to launch a new company that’s bringing a local media buying platform to market.


At the same time, the new company has launched a suite of APIs for broadcasters and their technology and data partners, and WideOrbit is involved.

Introducing Hudson MX, which is offering BuyerAssist as its flagship product.

“A fully customizable, cloud-based platform, BuyerAssist complements the skillset, market expertise, and institutional knowledge of local media buyers, empowering them to deliver superior client results in record time,” the company says.

BuyerAssist is being used by “the world’s largest agencies,” Hudson MX notes, to streamline their local media buying processes.

That’s because the product was first introduced commercially in September 2018 in closed beta.

Since then, buys have been completed in all 210 markets for some 300 national advertisers.

In 2019, 700+ buyers used the platform to transact more than $2 billion in local TV ad buys across all broadcasters, Hudson MX notes.

“Our early success demonstrates that agencies are committed to investing in software that positions their buyers for the future of local TV,” said Batson, who serves as Hudson MX CEO. “Hudson MX started because agencies are demanding a solution—we’ve just tried to listen. Q1 volume doubled that of Q4 and the back half of this year should double the front. Our strong agency relationships and customizable technology allowed us to quickly and quietly gain an industry foothold in the months since the product was introduced. Knowing firsthand how much this was needed, I wanted to invest all of our time and resources into building a great product versus wasting time talking about it.”

Nancy Larkin, SVP/Managing Director for Local Television at Horizon Media, said of Hudson MX’s launch, “More and more is being asked of us by clients. We are working with Hudson MX because they are helping us evolve our business to meet those needs and to help set us up to be successful in the future.”

Meanwhile, “comprehensive” API suite AgencyCloud is being offered to clients, with WideOrbit named as the first technology partner to integrate into the product.

Batson said of AgencyCloud, “When I was the Chief Revenue Officer of a local broadcaster, I learned firsthand that one of the biggest things holding back local broadcast was the lack of modern buy-side tools. I only wish this solution had existed then—the impact would have been in the tens of millions of dollars a year range.

“Both the buy-side and sell-side are under pressure to show the value of local TV,” Batson concluded. “To do so, buyers need greater efficiency without sacrificing compliance and quality. The largest broadcasters recognize that buyers of their medium need tools as sophisticated as those used by digital buyers in order to deliver the full value of local TV. They also appreciate the fact that the team at Hudson MX has the collective background required to build next generation tools that respect the nuances of the local TV market. The Broadcaster’s TIP initiative shows the broad industry support for investing in the future of the medium.”