The ad deal, through Universal McCann, for Xbox Halo 3, sees two 60-second spots airing in each of the six Premier League games available to view via video on demand, from 10pm after the final whistle, for seven weeks in August and September. The campaign is timed to coincide with the launch of Xbox Halo 3 on 26 September.
A sponsor is being sought for the VoD football coverage in a season-long deal. BT Vision is marketing the games in a monthly subscription for £4 a month, or £12 a month, including the live Premier League games broadcast by Setanta on the Freeview platform, which is also available on BT Vision.
Ad sales efforts are led by interactive and commercial media director Antony Carbonari who joined in April 2006 from Disney where he was director of broadband services.
He is supported by ad sales manager Jeremy Rosenberg, who was formerly head of online sales and sponsorship at ITV.
Carbonari has identified three methods of exploiting the commercial opportunities on BT Vision. The first is interactive red button ad campaigns covering the VoD and Freeview TV content. Carbonari claimed BT Vision's interactive connectivity, through broadband, was faster than, for example, Sky, allowing viewers speedier access to the ads and then back to the programming.
The second opportunity lies in targeted TV spots around VoD content. BT Vision hopes to have an automated ad management service in place during 2008 that will allow ads to be served to specific demographic groups. Where these ads will be placed within the content has yet to be decided.
The third opportunity is a web browser ad service using Microsoft Media Room's Tasman application, which is expected to come on board in the last quarter of this year.
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