Bright House, Ma Bell Team For Interactive Ads

Bright House Media Strategies, the advertising division of Bright House Networks, will be working with AT&T AdWorks to create what it says will be a one-stop shop for local, regional and national spot-TV advertisers to reach the Orlando, Fla., and the Bakersfield, Calif., markets.

This appears to be the second deal AT&T Adworks has struck with a MSO for interactive ads (for more, click here.)

Bright House Media Strategies will act as the exclusively agent, “offer(ing) the advertising community one convenient place to buy inventory on AT&T U-verse across more than 45 well-known, ad-supported cable networks.” The two also will build a platform for advertisers to place ads into key cable programs across both company’s inventories in Orlando and Bakersfield.

Notes Greg McCastle, an AT&T senior vice president and head of AT&T AdWorks, "This agreement adds significant value to the local advertising offerings as provided by the Bright House Media Strategies sales team and creates a streamlined process for media buyers in terms of seamless planning and buying."

This new pact could help national sales rep firm NCC Media place ad campaigns on both coasts. "Bright House Networks and AT&T AdWorks are providing marketers and ad agencies an easy way to plan and buy cable advertising in Orlando and Bakersfield," comments Dan Griffin, senior vice president/Sales at NCC Media. "This new partnership gives our national advertisers enormous opportunities to reach and engage consumers, and creates a superior advertising option in these markets."

In separate AT&T news, AT&T is the latest carrier to settle with TiVo Inc. regarding patent infringement, paying out at least $215 million through June 2018 (depending on AT&T U-verse growth). The first $51 million was due yesterday, with another $20 million due in the first year and quarterly payments after that.

Per subscriber, this payout will be much larger than a similar $500 million settlement TiVo reached in May 2011 with Dish Network Corp. and its set-top box provider EchoStar Corp. Dish had nearly 14 million subscribers at the end of September 2011, while AT&T’s U-verse had just 3.6 million. That makes AT&T’s settlement worth at least $59.72 per subscriber, while Dish’s cost $35.97 per subscriber.

TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said the bigger settlement resulted in part from the fact that AT&T heavily marketed its digital video recorders as a key difference between itself and bigger cablecos.