Adam Quinn, SVP, Sales highlights career milestones and talks to us about the many challenges and opportunities facing the Ad Sales team in the upcoming year.

What do you do in your current role within the Advertising team at Simulmedia?

I help the team unlock the proven value we bring to clients and ensure the team is knowledgeable of the broader video advertising marketplace and are able to articulate our value and adroitly customize that value based on an individual client or agency’s needs. This also includes helping them learn about our clients’ businesses to surface where and how we can help. I also work across the various departments to establish strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Finally, I leverage my 25+ years of experience on the agency and sales sides of the business, along with my deep network of contacts, to contribute to everything listed above.

Can you share insights into your journey to leading the Simulmedia Advertising team?

I spent many years in what would be considered more established and traditional buying and selling roles at other companies. My journey at Simulmedia began as an Account Executive, using a scrappy and disruptive approach to find and connect with the right clients. It's challenging but rewarding to communicate with contagious enthusiasm, helping clients see the benefits of partnering with us. Closing a partnership after all the effort feels great. I thrived as I faced diverse client and agency challenges, shaping our approach to meet their needs. Eventually, I earned the trust to manage a small team in a "player/coach" style. Helping colleagues replicate what I know works, and witnessing their enthusiasm and excitement is the best part, all while helping clients achieve business goals. Now, I'm honored to manage the entire sales team, scaling up our collaborative achievements. I continue to roll up my sleeves and use the skills I've developed along the way.

What are the most significant experiences and lessons you've learned as you ascended to your current leadership position, and how do you intend to apply them in your role?



All we have is time, the most valuable and perishable aspect of life. Everyone is either genuinely busy or has convinced themselves that they are. It doesn’t matter which is true. Anyone seeking the right to engage with someone in this business needs to add value and help them address whatever keeps them busy. This has been an ongoing lesson throughout my career, spanning all aspects of buying and selling, managing teams, and establishing partnerships. Regardless of whether someone is on the buyer or seller side, adding value at every point is essential. Adding value along the way holds both sides accountable and earns a seller the right to make a request. Also critical, is following through on follow-ups and commitments. It’s hard work, but when it all comes together, there are few things more satisfying and rewarding. So, I need to keep the team thinking this way.



What were the biggest challenges you faced when climbing the ladder in advertising sales, and how did you overcome them?

Related to everything I mentioned above, the main challenge in advertising sales is often breaking through and getting the chance to convince clients and agency partners that there's a better way to do business. This is particularly relevant to my time at Simulmedia. In the early stages of my career, the goal was to learn as much as possible about all the available options. A colleague from my early career on the agency side advised me to keep being a sponge, absorbing as much information as possible, which I took to heart. Similar to being extremely curious about everything, I focused on learning as much as I could about the business of advertising early in my career. This allowed me to form informed opinions on topics that emerged later in my career. Overcoming these challenges involves working hard and staying focused on what truly matters.

Can you describe your leadership style and how it has evolved throughout your career in advertising sales?

I've always admired leaders who clearly learned and became leaders by proving they could do the job at hand. These leaders can understand different perspectives and angles to an issue or task, putting themselves in others' shoes. This not only shows empathy but also means the leader won't ask a colleague to do something they haven't done themselves. It might be challenging to see everything a leader has done to reach where they are, but there are no shortcuts to hard work. Leaders who take shortcuts often get exposed or become ineffective. So, my approach is collaborative, providing guidance and helping colleagues find solutions by looking at what worked in the past and applying it to the future with new and innovative approaches.

Can you outline specific long-term goals you aim to achieve in your role, and how these goals align with the company's overall objectives?

The long term goal is to have a team of talented, inspired salespeople who are collaboratively and consultatively helping clients accelerate their business growth while recognizing the contribution of Simulmedia. There’s a higher level of accountability in this, and when achieved, benefits all involved. Specifically, this means managing ongoing partnerships to grow Simulmedia’s role in those clients’ marketing efforts, bringing back marketplace feedback to shape our capabilities to meet the broader needs of marketers, and helping arm the team with the skills and collateral they need to achieve all of this.

Which are the top opportunities you see for Simulmedia and how do you envision scaling your advertising team to meet the evolving needs of our clients and the industry?

The main opportunity we're focusing on is boosting accountability and effectiveness for our clients' video advertising. This involves connecting meaningfully with our clients, understanding their needs, educating them about our data-driven, cross-channel approach, proving its success with our measurement capabilities, and collaborating to optimize campaigns for the best customer growth. As the team brings in more clients, we'll expand to manage successful partnerships and use that success to find more clients and agencies who can benefit. Recently, we split the sales team into two groups— one focused on attracting new clients and agencies for growth, and the other on expanding existing clients or finding new business related to established clients. As the team excels in these areas, we'll decide which group to further develop.

What strategies have you/or plan to implement to keep your Advertising Sales team competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace?

We will always need to keep building on the fundamentals of consultative selling. Understanding a client’s business needs and matching those needs with our capabilities, in a consultative way that will drive both of our businesses, requires repetition and practice as businesses evolve and new dynamics and competitors come into play. Celebrating and evaluating wins with the team encourages sharing successful strategies to keep improving at Simulmedia. The new business team will connect with clients we've had trouble reaching before. The established-client team will intentionally expand and enhance our successes with ongoing partners. Both teams will collaborate to share and celebrate what's effective. Lastly, we need more visibility in the marketplace with competitors and potential partners. As a team, an ongoing goal is to keep learning about opportunities in the marketplace related to our data-driven premium video capabilities..

What key market opportunities do you foresee for Simulmedia in the next 3-5 years?

Linear TV is expected to continue to decline, while CTV will continue to grow. Despite the decline in linear TV ad spend, total TV ad spend will grow from $86.40 billion this year to $97.73 billion by 2027. The beauty of our approach at Simulmedia is that it’s built for the ongoing fragmentation of viewers. We benefit from the proliferation of content. So the more the streaming publishers, linear networks and other content producers develop content, and market it to everyone, the more necessary Simulmedia is. The market opportunity is: More great content means more opportunity for Simulmedia, and as we continue to build our cross-channel capabilities and scale our gaming audiences, we will continue to rise as the perfect solution for brands and agencies. We can’t miss the opportunity to spread the word. This also means we must execute with excellence so every client we get onboard, quickly becomes an advocate.


Adam Quinn, SVP, National Sales highlights career milestones and talks to us about the many challenges and opportunities facing the Ad Sales team in the upcoming year.

Simulmedia's SVP of Sales Focuses on Driving the Ad Sales Team to Success

Marc Siegel, President, Sales recently was promoted to run the Simulmedia advertising team. With many challenges and opportunities in the current marketplace, we sat down with him to learn more about his career and vision for the sales team as they navigate the many marketplace challenges and opportunities in the TV and CTV advertising landscape.

 

I lead the sales team that is responsible for generating revenue for the company. I collaborate with Adam Quinn, SVP, Sales to design our go-to-market strategy and align our people to execute our plan. In addition, I am in the market developing opportunities and identifying partnerships with marketers and agencies to scale our business. I partner with our CEO to effectively communicate with our Board our go-to-market strategy and meet with Board members individually to garner insights on how to do my job better. Lastly, I’m a mentor and coach to my team and lead by example.

Can you share insights into your journey to leading the Simulmedia Advertising team? 

I began my professional career playing minor league hockey where I learned to focus on what I can control, and that personal discipline is vital to success. After 3 years, I hung up the gear and decided that advertising was what interested me, so I joined an agency and worked there for 7 years. I worked on Coca-Cola, Pfizer and 3M business, and handled media planning duties with a focus on strategy and TV planning. From there, I moved to ad sales at U.S. News and World Report where I was part of the digital transformation of the business. At US News, I learned how to be a challenger brand in a competitive market and focus on my clients needs. When I had the opportunity to join Simulmedia, I knew that this was my chance to use my professional experience to accelerate my career and work with the smartest people in the industry.

What are the most significant experiences and lessons you've learned as you ascended to your current leadership position, and how do you intend to apply them in your role? 

Number one is learning by doing - this allows me to coach my team and be an effective leader. Second, is that grit and perseverance are the traits I look for when building my team. Number 3, is that our industry is complex, so making sure we have attention to detail on all aspects of our day to day is extremely important. Lastly, I’ve learned that relationships matter more than ever, so empowering my team to always be empathetic to our clients and teammates is important to help the business thrive.

What were the biggest challenges you faced when climbing the ladder in advertising sales, and how did you overcome them? 

I've always been in a challenger sales role where my offering wasn't on the “must buy list.” Because of this, I've had to identify where I spend my time and learn how to design our offering to ensure my customers see the value. Challenging the status quo is not easy but extremely rewarding. Overcoming objections has empowered me to truly enjoy what I do and has allowed me to overcome obstacles.

“Leading by example” and "Show Don’t Tell” are 1 and 1A. I’ve learned how to listen more and be more open to feedback and how I can get better. I continually emphasize individual accountability but understand that teamwork wins. The most important evolution I’ve made is bringing more empathy to my role and being able to communicate better with my co-workers.

Can you outline specific long-term goals you aim to achieve in your role, and how these goals align with the company's overall objectives? 

I want to bring more sustainable, predictable growth for the business by leading large scale enterprise partnerships in the market. Key verticals like pharma and DTC brand-performance advertisers will be key initiatives for sustainable growth. In addition, integrating our platform into independent agencies will transform our business from IO based deals to enterprise deals with recurring revenue. In this way, the company will be able to achieve its overall objectives. Lastly, I want to mentor and groom young talent to be the next leaders in our industry and have fruitful experience at Simulmedia and share in our wins.

Which are the top opportunities you see for Simulmedia and how do you envision scaling your advertising team to meet the evolving needs of our clients and the industry? 

Helping brands and agencies become smarter with their premium video investment. Showcasing how our technology can plan and allocate budgets to minimize over frequency and ensure ads are reaching the right people. I’m a TV fan and I see how ads run indiscriminately across the landscape. I want to encourage my team to be passionate about this problem as many industries rely on advertising to drive business growth. I want to position Simulmedia as the brain that powers allocation decisions across television, and soon, video games.

We have re-organized our sales team to align their strengths to the role we need to be successful. We have instituted on-going, weekly training to ensure all sellers have the tools to successfully execute our strategy. We’ve created team meetings with more positivity that empowers the team to communicate more effectively. In this way, we have created peer-to-peer training and greater collaboration. In addition, we encourage all team members to be in the market at industry and networking events to foster personal development and market intelligence.

What key market opportunities do you foresee for Simulmedia in the next 3-5 years? 

I see Simulmedia being able to forge key partnerships across the industry. Being an independent technology platform will allow us to create diverse revenue streams for linear, CTV, cross-channel, and gaming revenue. Our audience-first approach will allow our partners to use our tech and services to align to their business objectives. As Simulmedia continues to innovate, we will unlock new opportunities to build scale.

Marc Siegel, President, Sales recently got promoted to run the Simulmedia advertising team. With many challenges and opportunities in the current marketplace, we sat down with him to learn more about his career and vision for the sales team as they navigate the many marketplace challenges and opportunities in the TV and CTV advertising landscape.

New President of Sales Shares Career Insights and Opportunities for Sales Team

(New York City) – Simulmedia today announced a shared leadership structure at the top of the company to help it best exploit and manage the enormous growth in streaming TV advertising. Company founder and CEO Dave Morgan is changing his title to Executive Chairman, focusing on market development, product vision, strategy and partnerships. COO Jon Werther is taking the CEO title and assuming greater oversight of the company’s operations and day-to-day direction of the management team.

Wrote Morgan in a note to the Simulmedia team, “We created Simulmedia 15 years ago to bring a digital approach to TV advertising. Over the past three years, Connected TV advertising has grown from 1% to 6% to more than 15% of our revenue and should exceed 25% by the end of 2024. With those growth dynamics, having Jon Werther take over more of the day-to-day management of the company so that I can double-down my focus on market development, product vision, strategy and partnerships is the best way for us to grow and scale our already profitable and debt-free company. I am really lucky to have such a great partnership in place with Jon, who has been an amazing COO for the past one and one-half years and who worked closely with me both at AOL and in the initial build-out of Simulmedia.”

For the past 15 years, Simulmedia has pioneered the automated, data-driven buying of Linear TV advertising and its TV+ platform has directly optimized billions of dollars of ad spend across all of the major TV channels, from Warner Bros Discovery, NBCU, Disney and Paramount. Over the past three years, the company expanded TV+ to fully integrate ad-supported Connected TV channels like Hulu, Peacock, MAX, Disney+ and Roku.

eMarketer, an Insider Intelligence Company, recently projected that combined Linear TV and Connected TV ad spend will grow from 86 billion in annual spend in the US in 2023 to $102 billion in 2023, with Linear spend declining $5 billion over that time and CTV growing more than $15 billion. Simulmedia through its TV+(R) platform is the only company operating today that plans, activates and optimizes campaigns across both CTV and Linear in a fully integrated way, able to guarantee ad frequency capping in campaigns across programmers, channels, distributors and devices.

“I am excited to continue to partner with Dave and our outstanding team to drive robust profitable growth for Simulmedia and deliver best-in-class results for our clients and partners,” said Werther. “With our suite of industry-leading linear, CTV and in-game advertising solutions, our future is very bright.”

This move follows recent promotions in Simulmedia’s sales organization this past Fall when Marc Siegel, a ten-year veteran of the company, was named President of Sales and Adam Quinn, a seven year company veteran, was named SVP/Sales. Before Simulmedia, Siegel worked in media planning at Mediacom and Carat and in sales leadership at NY Daily News and US News & World Report. Quinn’s background includes senior sales and leadership roles at National Geographic and Turner Sports. At Simulmedia, their positions were previously held by Lauren Fry, now head of video ad sales at Apple, and Dina Roman, head of global advertising sales at Fubo.

Simulmedia is a New York based technology company for advertisers and agencies founded in 2008. Its Performance TV(R) products - powered by its patented, AI-driven TV+(R) analytic and activation platform - deliver high performance targeted video ad campaigns across all streaming and linear TV channels for more than 100 top brands like Disney, Experian, MassMutual and Choice Hotels. Independent studies show that Simulmedia campaigns regularly deliver 30-100% higher ROI than conventionally planned and targeted campaigns. This is why Simulmedia is alone guaranteeing the performance of its campaigns, whether the desired outcome is reach, custom targeting or ROI.

Simulmedia today announced a shared leadership structure at the top of the company to help it best exploit and manage the enormous growth in streaming TV advertising. Company founder and CEO Dave Morgan is changing his title to Executive Chairman, focusing on market development, product vision, strategy and partnerships. COO Jon Werther is taking the CEO title and assuming greater oversight of the company’s operations and day-to-day direction of the management team.

Simulmedia Establishes Partnership at Top of C-Suite

A 202-page research post analyzing Google's advertising practices is making waves in the ad tech world.

The research comes from Adalytics, an advertising analytics firm that found 

 of YouTube's ad campaigns violated their own standards. Affected advertisers include Fortune 500 brands, small businesses, and even government agencies.

So what exactly does this mean for the advertising industry? What do advertisers need to know moving forward? To better understand this hot topic, we've broken it down below.

Advertisers invest big into YouTube — the media giant's total ad revenue for 2022 amounted to 

. Advertisers pay Google to serve their ads on YouTube, but these ads are sometimes run on third-party sites and apps — also known as Google Video Partners.

Google claims it vets these partner sites to ensure they're of the utmost quality, but Adalytics' report reveals the opposite. According to the report, "many media buyers were surprised to learn that the majority of their ad budgets against a so-called "walled garden" environment was spent on muted, auto-playing video ads on third party websites.."

To make matters worse, many ad buyers have since reported they unknowingly opted-in to YouTube's audience extension. Nandini Jammi, co-founder of the advertising industry watchdog group Check My Ads, identified a significant inconsistency in the language used by Google in response to the research. While Google's blog post states that it provides the option to opt-out of displaying ads on third-party sites at any time, Jammi discovered that Google's support page contradicts this statement.

Just how bad is the situation? A look at the numbers is telling.

Adalytics found that, in one ad campaign, 

 claimed to be in-stream TrueView ads were, in fact, fully muted, played on a loop, and in small, out-stream video players.

, according to Nandini Jammi of CheckMyAds. In other words, Google has charged advertisers 20x for low-quality, misrepresented ads.

Adalytics also found a well-known consumer goods brand had 

 distributed through Google Video Partners. Within this budget,

 were allocated to websites that displayed ads in muted or non-in-stream video players, while 

 was utilized for ads shown on ineligible mobile apps that do not function as video streaming platforms.

There's much to take away from Adalytic's report, from larger industry issues to technological flaws and more. Our main takeaways are as follows.

This instance highlights a bigger industry issue. 

A lack of transparency has plagued the ad industry for years. A week prior, the Association of National Advertisers released a study uncovering nearly $20 billion dollars of U.S. ad spend funnels into low–quality inventory. With this in mind, Google's debacle is more likely a symptom of a bigger problem — rather than the illness itself.

Dave Morgan, CEO of Simulmedia, puts it best on 

. "Am I surprised? No. I have been in this industry for the past three decades and I have seen way, way too much of this kind of stuff. In the late '90s, it was the pop-under ads. It was the invisible pixel ads to win on "last-click tracking" reports."

Whether it's your verification partners or holdcos, your partners should join you in your fight for more transparent inventory. Are you on the same side? Are they fighting as vigorously as you to ensure each dollar is efficiently invested? Questions like these are crucial to curating a list of partners that will set you up for success in the future.

Don’t be afraid to push for transparency. 

Yes, some publishers don’t want you to know that 60% of your delivery is on popular reruns — but now is the time to start demanding more. How? Convince publishers that a way for them to differentiate against Google and YouTube is by being more transparent than they already are. Ask resellers for impression logs and other forms of audit trails that make it harder for bad actors to get away with fraud.

If the pricing looks too good to be true, it probably is. 

Video inventory is scarce. The pressure for cheaper inventory is stronger than ever. Factors like these have created a phenomenon of made-for-advertising (MFA) sites and artificially low prices, which begs the question: Low CPMs are great, but at what cost?

In fact, the ANA recently released a report uncovering that MFAs make up 

Balance out your need to drive lower CPMs with reaching your audience in more well-lit, trustworthy and transparent places. While this may be more costly, this strategy will pay off in the long run.

Push to know if your ad buys are being fulfilled through audience extension. 

In other words, ask publishers if they’re working with other players to fill demand they can’t fill themselves. As we saw with Google Video Partners, when publishers extend their audience through partnerships with external entities, they have less direct control over the placement and context in which their ads appear — often leading to lower-quality or even fraudulent inventory.

Naturally, advertisers may be wary of digital video like YouTube. If you find yourself in the same spot, consider rerouting your campaigns to linear and connected TV. Why? For one, inventory is often cheaper. YouTube’s CPMs average to 

, while both linear and CTV are sometimes cheaper.

Think of all the perks of advertising on the big screen. Ads on linear can be 15 or 30-seconds long. Customers are used to watching ads at that length while watching long-form content like TV episodes. On the other hand, viewers who watch short-form content like YouTube, where the norm is a 6-second ad, are likely to be annoyed watching a 30-second ad for a 2-minute video and they’re likely to skip the ad when given the option. Better still, getting started is easy — as is gleaning better insight into where your ads are actually running.

Feel Confident in Where Your Ads Are Running

Transparency into where your TV campaigns are running is possible, but as we mentioned, you need partners who align with your values. Partners who values transparency know that:

Merging connected TV reports from different DSPs can be confusing.

 Having too little visibility into which shows your ads appeared next to when buying CTV is more worrisome than ever before. Simulmedia’s TV+’s integrations with clean rooms across major inventory sources allow us to de-duplicate impressions, reach metrics and fuse them into a consolidated dashboard.

Google’s debacle is certainly cause for concern, Professional fraudsters who spin out MFAs and armies of bots are even worse — and it’s easy for them to get away with bad practices when visibility is opaque.

Look further down-funnel and see how linear and CTV ads drive incremental web visits, app installs, purchases, and other KPIs that matter most to your business. 

Fraud oftentimes gets harder to perpetrate the further down the funnel you measure, especially when it involves a monetary exchange. TV+ platform provides you with reporting to these lower-funnel metrics at an extremely granular level – by network/publisher, program, daypart, and day of the week on both linear and CTV.

Even if fraud isn’t involved, the opaqueness of CTV buying still causes advertisers issues. 

 TV+ also reads, interprets, and reconciles various programmatic signals to provide show-level reporting, so you can ensure that ads appear next to brand-aligned programs. Your brand may choose to exclude showing up next to certain genres, and seeing show-level campaign data allows marketers to get better peace of mind that their ads are showing up in the right places.

Interested in seeing how Simulmedia can help you gain confidence and take control during this uncertain time? 

Unveiling the Google Video Partners Ad Debacle: A Closer Look at Advertisers' Experiences

This year's upfronts were anything but ordinary. Executive shake-ups at NBC brought into question the state of advertising currency. Paramount chose to opt out of the week-long event. And to top it off, protestors lined the sidewalks in solidarity with the writer's strike.

That's not to say the big week is typically predictable. In 2020, COVID obliterated any and all plans for in-person presentations. Then, in 2022, advertisers returned to the upfronts after a two-year hiatus. But 2023's upfronts have especially thrown advertisers for a loop, thanks to the triple threat of events just weeks before the big event.

While the writer's strike certainly threw a wrench into plans, big-name brands could still paint a clear picture of where the market was heading. Below, we'll dive into what we saw at this year's upfronts, what it means for the market and our recommendations for navigating the foreseeable future.


One of the biggest overarching themes at this year's upfronts was sports — a vertical seemingly unaffected by the writer's strike. From Disney to Fox to Warner Brothers, everyone leaned into their sports ownership and the promising future of live viewership. "In what's been an otherwise rather lackluster ad market, sports is a bright spot," said WBD ad sales chief Jon Steinlauf to the Hollywood Reporter.

News programming was another focal point for publishers looking to fill the gap in content. Most of each news presentation focused on the election cycle and original programming. CNN's presentation, case in point, revealed three new series: Columbia, Tinderbox, and Spy Wars.

The ever-growing impact of the streaming era was another notable theme among presentations. Netflix, a major player in the streaming space, had its first-ever (virtual) upfront presentation. Fox treated its streaming platform, Tubi, as a separate entity by giving the free streaming provider a portion of its presentation. According to Ad Age, Marianna Gambelli, Fox's president of advertising, boasted, "To add to Fox's already powerful portfolio, we went all-in on AVOD," and noted that the service had grown 44% YOY.

eMarketer forecasts that, from 2020 to 2024, upfront CTV spending will grow from about 30% to about 40% of all CTV spending.

As streaming grows, advertisers are seeking new ways to 

. Warner Brothers announced WBD Stream, an all-in-one advertising platform designed to facilitate ad buying by putting all its inventory in one place. Similarly, Disney noted plans to combine Disney+ and Hulu content. And, of course, HBO Max rebranded to Max.

"The iceberg below the surface this week was the long-term structure of the TV industry. It's clear there will be consolidation among some of the companies. The loss of billions of dollars TV companies have run up -- trying to build streamers to challenge Netflix, Amazon, and Apple -- is not sustainable," wrote Dave Morgan, CEO of Simulmedia, on Media Post.

Now that the dog-and-pony show is over and negotiations are winding down, how will advertisers navigate the market? Here are our predictions for the upcoming year.

Cross-channel will be increasingly important, 

and it's time to implement a cross-channel strategy. Many advertisers treat streaming and linear as siloed channels, but the overlap between the two is too large for advertisers to ignore.

Take Formula 1: Drive to Survive, which blew up on Netflix. A spilling fanbase significantly boosted the international racing series on other channels, including ESPN. The big takeaway? Viewership is evolving, and the line between streaming and linear is more blurry than ever.

Rather than think about viewership in terms of GRP and cost per point, consider the multiple touchpoints across a viewer's journey and how you can drive business across those points.

Even gaming can be a viable option — the pause in new programming during COVID-19 led to a surge in console gaming. Assuming the strike continues, we may see a similar (but less drastic) increase in younger demographics and time spent gaming.

Sports and news will see less erosion than general entertainment. 

While general entertainment may be facing significant headwinds, sports and news are less likely to be impacted. Why? Sports are always in high demand, and the election cycle will attract more viewers to news programming.

This means sports, and news programs are likely to generate more impressions — and more demand from advertisers. This means sports and news are more likely to garner strong CPM inflation.

We can already see the effects of this. Yahoo! Sports reports that "looking back at the last 30 years of upfront data, the cost of reaching 1,000 sports viewers in the fall is likely to be around 8% to 10% higher than it was just a year ago."

Hesitation to spend in the upfront market will make this year's scatter market even more important. 

During the last writer’s strike, a lack of programming led to a decline in primetime ratings for linear networks. We expect to see the same in this strike. Based on 2008 learnings, a decline in ratings will affect brands and their upfront ad buys — a significant position of upfront allocations are typically reserved for new programming.

In fact, eMarketer forecasts that US upfront TV ad spending will fall 

How long are advertisers willing to prolong their upfront commitments? Advertisers fall into two buckets here. While some are ready to start spending, others are waiting to see if the scatter market may fare better. In an interview with 

, Roseann Montenes, head of strategic audience solutions/partnerships and alternative currency measurement at A+E Networks, noted, "Some clients that we're talking to — [clients] that know they have particular KPIs that they need to check the box and know that they're getting into a better place with — are willing to start to have the conversation a little bit earlier, whereas you have another school [of advertisers and agencies operating under the mentality of] 'Let's wait and see; can we spend in scatter?"

Those looking to spend in the scatter market still have an opportunity to hit their campaign goals, but their strategies must be even smarter to succeed.

Another key takeaway: The upfronts serve as a significant platform for advertisers to secure popular primetime TV shows, but the writer’s strike is likely to delay the release of some highly anticipated fall shows. In response, viewers may adapt by exploring alternative channels during primetime in the fall.

How can advertisers find these audiences? Simulmedia’s TV+ platform is able to find audiences at primetime and beyond. Better still, our data-driven buyers are distributed among all networks — meaning we can distribute your budget across more cost-efficient networks, rather than limiting buys to costly primetime shows.

And that’s not all. Our forecasting algorithm is equipped to handle any and all external events, such as the explosion of political advertising forecasted to hit news programming in the late summer — meaning advertisers can feel confident even in an uncertain future.

In the Midst of the Writer’s Strike, How Can Advertisers Navigate the Upfronts and Beyond?

Why? First, because I am speaking at egta’s (the European Association of Television and Radio Sales Houses) annual CEO Summit in Warsaw on June 1, so I will already be close by. But, most importantly, I am going because I want to make a difference, even if only in a small way.

Our politicians, governments and militaries are doing a lot to help Ukraine win this terrible war. But I believe it's essential our businesses and business leaders step up now, too.

Cross-border business, contracts, investments, partnerships, training and education can all play a part in helping keep Ukraine’s economic engine running, which is critical to the country’s current survival and which will make an enormous difference in post-war rebuilding. Humanitarian aid is essential now, but providing smart economic development support as well can help ensure long term self-sustainability for Ukraine.

The advertising technology industry has benefited greatly from the country and its people. Every day, advertisers and marketers around the globe leverage technology with roots in Ukraine, created by Ukrainian developers, who have long been known as among the best, most modern and most innovative in the world.

While in Kyiv, I will be part of an event with Interactive Advertising Bureau Ukraine -- a beacon of light for our industry -- where we will share the latest developments in digital advertising and marketing, recognize extraordinary achievements, and talk about how companies around the world can help Ukraine companies in their work.

Among the topics we will discuss, I am sure, will be the centrality of the advertising and technology communities in society. Advertising helps fuel, build and drive consumer-driven economic growth and independent media. And technology and technologists will rebuild and transform the infrastructure upon which it will operate and scale.

I want to learn how Ukraine’s businesses are surviving this war. We get news about the fighting, but we don’t hear much about the lives of Ukrainians working to sustain businesses and keep the country functioning. And to that end, I’m looking forward to visiting with local businesses and leaders in both Kyiv and Lviv, visiting their operations and seeing firsthand some of their challenges and successes.

I hope to bring attention to what Ukrainians and their businesses need. I plan to chronicle what I see, hear and learn, telling those stories here at MediaPost and in other channels so that colleagues from across our industry and around the world can better understand what is happening -- and, ideally, feel motivated to learn and do more themselves. Cross-border business, contracts, partnerships, investments and collaborations with our Ukrainian colleagues can and will make a big difference to so many.

Finally, I am going to Kyiv to show my support. The people of Ukraine need to know that we are with them -- not just in spirit but in person, too.

Why I'm Going To Kyiv

It’s official: Tucker Carlson is no longer with Fox News.

For advertisers, media buyers, and brands, this poses a big question. Where will Carlson’s viewers go — and how will we be able to find them?

Cable news is a valuable reach vehicle across many strategic target audiences, so we’ve been digging in with our Data Science team to determine what the impact might be for advertisers.

But before we forecast the future, it’s important we look to the past.

Looking to the Past: Bill O’Reilly’s Departure

The last popular news anchor to depart Fox News unexpectedly was Bill O’Reilly back in April of 2017. The show generated $446 million in ad revenue from 2014 to 2016 with an average of 33 commercials a night.

, ratings declined for his time slot upon his exit — and the overall network viewership took about an 8% hit.

However, this was short-lived. After about a month, Fox News network viewership bounced back to pre-O’Reilly departure levels.

Tucker Carlson, his replacement, saw over 600,000 viewers in his debut on Fox News. The show went on to average nearly 3 million viewers daily in the first quarter of 2018 — lower than O’Reilly’s last two years but better than his performance pre-Trump, according to 

Carlson’s success continued to grow throughout his time on Fox.

From January 1st to April 23rd in 2023, Tucker Carlson Tonight comprised 

 watched on Fox News from Jan. 1st to April 23rd in 2023.

Since January 1st, Carlson’s show has ranked the 

 in terms of linear watch-time across all networks, and the 5th most watched program during primetime hours across all networks.

What does this mean for Fox News post-Carlson?

Our team found that Monday night’s Fox News Tonight, the first 8pm temporary replacement hosted by Brian Kilmeade, saw a 21% decline versus Tucker Carlson’s average viewership. That said, Hannity at 9pm did not see any difference in viewership.

If we continue to see an overall delivery decline on the network post-Tucker Carlson, we anticipate it to rebound in a similar fashion as in 2017.

Why? A look at the data shows Fox News’ ability to rebound in a matter of months during times of uncertainty. Furthermore, Fox News has exclusive rights to the first GOP debate in August, with campaign coverage to follow throughout the next several months. In other words, exclusive coverage of the highly anticipated GOP debate is likely to bring in viewers and boost viewership.

We also know O’Reilly’s 2016 and 2017 ratings soared due in part to the 2016 presidential election and beginning of President Donald Trump in the White House. In 2016, O’Reilly’s show saw an 

average of more than 3.3 million total viewers

, and about 573,000 viewers in the coveted 25-54 year-old demographic. The big takeaway: Elections are a huge factor in boosting viewership, and Fox News is just months away from one of the biggest debates of the year.

What Are Audiences Watching in the Interim?

To demonstrate just how powerful maximizing unique reach can be, we took a look at audiences who watched Carlson’s show in the last months. Our goal is to show that even without a spot on Carlson’s show, you can still reach these audiences through our powerful TV+ platform.

For a campaign of $1 million, our platform selected 64 networks across all of national linear TV — some that may even seem counterintuitive, like MSNBC. Here’s a snippet of what that plan looks like:

While this was just an experiment, it goes to show that viewers won’t disappear when their favorite talkshow does. Rather, they turn to other channels.

Interested in seeing how Simulmedia can strategically find your brand’s target audience and help you take control during this uncertain time? 

Tucker Carlson’s Exit: What Advertisers Need To Know

Simulmedia to Synthesize Comscore’s Custom Viewership Segments into TV+® Platform to Drive Tune-in Promotion Everywhere Audiences May Be Watching

NEW YORK – By the end of the year, hundreds of new and returning TV series, along with a myriad of original films, live events and specials, will premiere across more channels and platforms than ever before available. These new programs will span broadcast, cable, satellite and AVOD, SVOD and FAST streaming services. As a result, entertainment marketers face unprecedented hurdles in finding the right viewers across this fragmented landscape to drive to their programming.

, the leader in truly cross-channel TV advertising, today announced a partnership with 

, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluating media across platforms, to integrate Comscore’s TV viewership audiences into Simulmedia’s unique 

This partnership will enable entertainment marketers to reach viewership-based audiences no matter where they’re watching by using TV+® to find and target Comscore viewership audiences across streaming TV programs with greater cost-efficiency and reduced duplication.

“For the first time ever, entertainment marketers can now run promotional paid media campaigns across the entire television footprint with the confidence that they'll reach audiences most interested in tuning in to their new shows," said Lori O’Connor, Vice President of Sales, West Coast for Simulmedia.

Consumers’ viewership preferences are crucial to driving successful tune-in promotion, so incorporating Comscore’s high-value custom audience segments based on that behavior into TV+® will allow entertainment marketers to target and activate viewers across both data-driven linear and streaming TV consistently and cost-effectively without wasteful duplication.

“We’re thrilled that Simulmedia has chosen to leverage Comscore’s viewership audiences in an innovative way that will ensure more entertainment marketers are driving viewers to both their new programs and returning favorites,” said Rachel Gantz, GM Activation and Advertising Solutions at Comscore. “As choices exponentially increase for TV consumers, it is critical that entertainment marketers have access to accurate audience data to ensure they get their message in front of the right audience.”

By utilizing TV+®’s patented forecasting technology, direct access to over 250 premium inventory partners and automated planning, buying, activation and measurement processes –  in combination with Comscore’s custom viewership-based targeting capabilities and the billions of data points from dozens of sources that Simulmedia’s platform ingests and synthesizes daily – entertainment marketers can execute tune-in campaigns in a seamless, unified manner.

It’s an approach that accounts for the complicated viewer journey through today’s scattered omnichannel landscape in which consumers routinely switch their attention not only from network to network, but from linear to streaming and then back again on a regular, daily basis.



Simulmedia is the leader in truly cross-channel TV advertising. With its TV+® platform, the company delivers unparalleled reach, measurement, and results wherever audiences watch or stream. Founded In 2008, Simulmedia pioneered a data-first, digital approach to TV ad placement and optimization that changed TV advertising forever. With TV+®, Simulmedia helps advertisers and agencies quickly and effectively reach viewers scattered across both linear and streaming TV at guaranteed scale without wasteful duplication. Simulmedia has planned and executed successful TV campaigns for hundreds of brands, including Experian, Warner Bros. Discovery, Zelle, Disney, 1-800-FLOWERS, Monster, Electrolux, Rover, Nordstrom, King’s Hawaiian, and many more. In addition, Simulmedia allows brands to extend their reach and connect with elusive younger audiences via PlayerWON®, the first in-game video advertising platform for free-to-play PC and console titles. For more information, visit 

Simulmedia is leveraging Comscore’s custom viewership segments to drive tune-in promotion everywhere audiences may be watching or streaming.

Simulmedia Partners With Comscore to Further Enable Entertainment Marketers to Reach Target Viewers Across Linear TV & Streaming

Leading FemTech Brand Partners with Quirk Creative and Simulmedia to Drive Audience Awareness and Online Sales Through Targeted Premium Video

NEW YORK – Although one in three women experience Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) at some point in their lives, public and media taboos around the topic have exacerbated the physical and mental stress caused by bladder leaks, while common remedies like pads and adult diapers are often considered inconvenient and less than comfortable.

To provide women the opportunity to live life free from bladder leaks in as little as three months, consumer medical company Atlantic Therapeutics paired compelling new creative with a smart approach to television advertising to boost awareness and adoption of 

, a non-invasive solution that treats the cause of bladder weakness in women via a unique wearable technology approved by the FDA with no prescription needed.

“As we moved into 2022, we recognized our early progress in building a disruptive brand in a huge category dominated by strong incumbents,” said Susan Trent, CEO of Atlantic Therapeutics. “To accelerate that progress, we needed to deliver a highly persuasive message that motivated women to change their beliefs and behaviors around bladder leaks. And as a scaling start-up business, media efficiency was a critical element in landing the message to the right audience. That was the challenge we set to our partners.”

For a complete refresh of its commercials, INNOVO® enlisted Quirk Creative, an award-winning advertising agency specializing in video-based campaigns. Quirk Creative produced new spots that communicated the superior and clinically proven benefits of the innovative, pelvic-floor-muscle-strengthening shorts in a smart, sensitive and informative manner that both educated and engaged viewers.

“As one of the many brands we represent in 

, we used our experience and expertise in the feminine healthcare space to create a unique campaign for INNOVO®’s unique solution to incontinence,” explained Wren Sieber, Creative Director at Quirk Creative. “The spot focuses on the target audience's real emotional trigger moments – first as floating dream sequences, symbolic of our audience’s desire to engage, and then again in real time, to be able to run, jump, and laugh, feeling the impact of the shorts.”

In order to effectively reach women over 35 with active lifestyles who were past or current users of products from its competitors, INNOVO® turned to Simulmedia, the leader in truly cross-channel TV advertising. Simulmedia’s patented 

 helped INNOVO® forecast where its target audience would be watching TV and then activated against that audience at guaranteed scale with a national data-driven campaign.

“Our TV+® platform’s unique planning, buying, activation and measurement capabilities as well as direct access to premium video inventory from over 250 networks and streaming services enabled INNOVO® to get its ads more broadly in front of females across the U.S.,” said Dina M. Roman, Senior Vice President of Sales, Simulmedia. “This allowed the brand to cost-efficiently spread its powerful message, grow awareness and drive online sales.”

INNOVO®’s strategy resulted in a dramatic and measurable impact on all key performance metrics, including: a 265% lift in site visitors, a 199% increase in customer response rate, a 60% increase in “Add to Carts” on the company’s website and a significant 45% reduction in cost per site visitor to the company’s website.

Most importantly, the partnership and combined efforts of INNOVO®, Quirk Creative and Simulmedia ensured that hundreds of thousands of women across the U.S. no longer have to suffer or be embarrassed by incontinence and now have the opportunity to, in the words of the new TV spots, “do what we love – without worrying.”

INNOVO® is an FDA-Approved, CE-marked treatment for women suffering from Stress Urinary Incontinence. It works by delivering clinically proven, safe, non-invasive pelvic-floor stimulation via unique wearable technology. In the privacy of their own home, women can simply wear the INNOVO® shorts technology for a 30-minute pelvic floor workout. Innovative NMES (neuromuscular electrical stimulation) technology embedded in the INNOVO® shorts does the work to strengthen and re-educate their pelvic floor muscles, giving women the opportunity to live life free from bladder leaks in as little as three months. Extensive clinical trial outcomes conducted on over 600 subjects consistently confirm improvements in key outcomes, symptoms and acceptability. Underpinned by this compelling peer-reviewed science, INNOVO® has received numerous prestigious awards for innovation and technology and is revenue-generating in both the USA and Europe.

Based in Galway, Ireland and Boston, MA, Atlantic Therapeutics develops consumer medical devices, related software, apps and connected health technologies to treat all types of incontinence. The company's mission is to improve the quality of life of millions of people each year, by enabling them to restore and strengthen their pelvic health, thus regaining the confidence and control to lead active lives. Atlantic Therapeutics has attracted both international VC investment and enterprise grant funding and is experiencing high growth, establishing INNOVO® as the leading Femtech solution to treat SUI. For more information, please visit 


Quirk Creative is a WBE-certified, award-winning advertising agency specializing in video-based campaigns. Quirk combines creative strategy, testing and production under one roof for brand-awareness and performance  campaigns on TV, OTT, digital and social channels. The end result: hardworking creative that lifts brands, and most importantly, sells. For more information, visit 

Simulmedia is the leader in truly cross-channel TV advertising. With its TV+® platform, the company delivers unparalleled reach, measurement, and results wherever audiences watch or stream. Founded In 2008, Simulmedia pioneered a data-first, digital approach to TV ad placement and optimization that changed TV advertising forever. With TV+, Simulmedia helps advertisers and agencies quickly and effectively reach viewers scattered across both linear television and connected TV at guaranteed scale without wasteful duplication. Simulmedia has planned and executed successful TV campaigns for hundreds of brands, including Experian, Warner Bros. Discovery, Zelle, Disney, 1-800-FLOWERS, Monster, Electrolux, Rover, Nordstrom, King’s Hawaiian, and many more. In addition, Simulmedia allows brands to extend their reach and connect with elusive younger audiences via PlayerWON

, the first in-game video advertising platform for free-to-play PC and console titles. For more information, visit 

FemTech brand INNOVO partnered with Quirk Creative and Simulmedia to drive audience awareness and online sales through targeted premium video

INNOVO® Leverages Powerful New Creative and a More Effective Approach to TV Advertising to Help Revolutionize Women’s Health

Experienced Media Executive Returns to Innovative TV Advertising Company in New Role

NEW YORK – Simulmedia, the industry leader in truly cross-channel TV advertising, today announced the return of Jon Werther in the newly created role of Executive Vice President, Operations and Business Development. Mr. Werther, who is returning to Simulmedia after ten years at other companies, previously served as President and as Chief Revenue Officer of Simulmedia between 2010-2012.

“Jon is one of the most talented executives I’ve ever had the privilege to know and work with, beginning over 15 years ago,” said Dave Morgan, founder and CEO of Simulmedia. “I’m thrilled to welcome Jon back to the company to streamline our operations and elevate our business relationships to deliver on our TV+® platform’s unique promise of cross-channel reach and results across the linear and CTV advertising ecosystem.”

Most recently, Mr. Werther served as Executive Vice President, Strategic Partnerships & New Business Development for the Professional Fighters League (PFL), where he led international expansion efforts and new business initiatives for the rapidly growing sports league.

Prior to that, Mr. Werther held multiple positions at Meredith Corporation, including President, National Media Group; Executive Vice President, National Media Group; President, Meredith Digital; and Chief Strategy Officer. At Meredith, he was responsible for all of the company’s multiplatform national brands and the management of all digital properties, video and mobile efforts, as well as all digital product, sales, marketing, account management and indirect monetization functions. He also led Consumer Marketing efforts for all National Media Group brands.

Before his time at Meredith and his first stint at Simulmedia, Mr. Werther spent more than ten years in a variety of executive positions at Time Warner and its AOL division.

Mr. Werther started his career as an Associate at Arnold & Porter, LLP, in Washington, D.C. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School, and a B.A. from Emory University.

Simulmedia is the leader in truly cross-channel TV advertising. With its TV+® platform, the company delivers unparalleled reach, measurement, and results wherever audiences watch or stream. Founded In 2008, Simulmedia pioneered a data-first, digital approach to TV ad placement and optimization that changed TV advertising forever. With TV+, Simulmedia helps advertisers and agencies quickly and effectively reach viewers scattered across both linear television and connected TV at guaranteed scale without wasteful duplication. Simulmedia has planned and executed successful TV campaigns for hundreds of brands, including Experian, WarnerMedia, Zelle, Disney, 1-800-FLOWERS, Monster, Electrolux, Rover, Nordstrom, King’s Hawaiian, and many more. In addition, Simulmedia allows brands to extend their reach and connect with elusive younger audiences via PlayerWON

Media veteran Jon Werther returns to Simulmedia in a newly created role to lead operations and business development.

Simulmedia CRO Lauren Fry Named to NYC TV Week’s ‘40 Under 40’