Broadcast or Digital? How About Both

President and CEO of Nexstar, Perry Stock declares, “Traditional TV remains the dominant reach medium with the greatest share of video viewership and superior engagement and influence on consumers’ purchasing and voting decisions. As our business continues to evolve with the changing new media landscape, we are focused on developing new technologies, products, and services that complement our broadcast and digital media platforms.”

Well, that’s exactly what Nexstar has done. Along with its subsidiary, Yashi, Nexstar has created a Digital Mirror platform that links video advertising on television with pre-roll on digital mediums.

Digital Mirror is a new technology that allows advertisers to take over the programmatic pre-roll inventory in a specific DMA during and immediately following a broadcast commercial. For example, you’re watching your favorite prime time show (for me, Blacklist takes the prize) when the show goes to a commercial break. There you see a commercial for the latest and greatest restaurant in your area. Well, commercials aren’t all that exciting so you switch to your smartphone/tablet/laptop. Next thing you know, there’s a pre-roll ad for that same awesome restaurant. Now, after seeing that sizzling steak for a second time, you mouth starts to water. Maybe you are hungry. Blacklist can wait, right? You push pause, strap on your shoes, grab your wallet, and head out the door.

Okay, so every advertising opportunity might not work out as seamlessly as above, but with Digital Mirror, advertisers can take over the pre-roll inventory for three minutes after the conclusion of their video. Advertisers can now reach their customers on multiple devices at nearly the same time. Not only will advertisers reach those who actually saw the television commercial, but they will also reach those not watching television with the pre-roll ad running throughout the DMA.

So far, Digital Mirror is available in three Nexstar markets with the platform expected to roll-out into all other markets within the year. The technology hosts a platform which allows full transparency and real time data so advertisers know where and when multi-screen impressions occur and the analytics that dig deeper.