Next in Media spoke with Larry Allen, VP & GM Data & Addressable Enablement at Comcast about the challenge in getting everyone in media to speak the same language when it comes to targeted TV ads. 

Allen also talked about why he think the TV business needs to ditch identifiers for old school household data, and why he thinks that media companies are ready to work together to broaden the TV ad pie.

Takeaways:

Addressable TV is Evolving – It’s no longer just about traditional cable ad slots. Today, addressable TV spans streaming, connected devices, and multi-screen environments 📱📺.

The Power of First-Party Data – Comcast leverages its data for better audience targeting 🔍, enabling both internal and external partners like NBC to optimize ad reach 🎯.

Challenges in Ad Buying – TV and digital ad teams still operate separately 🏢↔️💻, leading to inefficiencies in multi-screen targeting. There’s a push to unify these approaches 🔄.

Programmatic ≠ Addressable – While programmatic is growing 📈, it’s not always true addressability. The challenge is making linear TV available programmatically without losing precision 🎚️.

Live TV is Here to Stay – Despite streaming’s rise, live sports 🏈, news 📰, and appointment-based viewing keep linear TV relevant and valuable for advertisers 📆.

Measurement is Still Messy – Cross-platform measurement is a work in progress 🧩. More platforms are sharing ad exposure data, but gaps remain in reach and frequency tracking 📊.

Identity Matters More Than Cookies – Relying on email or IP-based identifiers can be inaccurate ⚠️. Physical home addresses provide better targeting and measurement accuracy 📍.

🎙 Guest: Larry Allen
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative