TV advertising consortium OpenAP has named TrueX co-founder Dan Levy as the company's first chief executive officer.
Levy joins as the audience targeting group that looks to steady itself amid shakeups and product launches.
Fox, Viacom, NBCUniversal and Univision all make up the consortium, an independent measurement and audience targeting platform that has hopes to be the new standard for TV publishers. But in April, one of OpenAP's founding members WarnerMedia pulled out of the group, calling into question its future.
“OpenAP was formed to rise above competition and create solutions that will change the way our entire industry functions,” Levy said in a statement. “There’s so much work to done, but we’ve made incredible strides and we’re going to continue to develop the transparent audience-based cross-platform buying solutions that we need to operate.
"I’ve been deeply involved with OpenAP since its inception, and I’m thrilled to now be taking on a larger role within the organization leading OpenAP’s efforts to revolutionize the advertising ecosystem.”
In late April, OpenAP introduced an automated marketplace, developed in collaboration with Accenture and FreeWheel.
OpenAP already allows for buyers to build consistent, cross-publisher audience segments for both national linear and long-form digital video. The expanded marketplace, dubbed OpenAP 2.0, now lets buyers submit orders to activate audience segments through a centralized marketplace.
Krishan Bhatia, NBCUniversal’s executive vice-president of business operations and strategy; John Halley, Viacom’s executive vice-president and chief operating officer, ad solutions; and Meredith Brace, Fox’s executive vice-president of client solutions and portfolio marketing shared a joint statement on Levy's hire:
“We recognize that standardization and collaboration — across measurement, targeting, and more — is critical for our individual businesses and the entire industry, and that’s why we’re doubling down on our commitment to the future of OpenAP. If we build together, we are all stronger, and OpenAP embodies this spirit. David Levy has stewarded OpenAP since its creation, and we’re honored to have him now join us as CEO to help shape the new era of audience-based media buying. With David at the helm, the future of OpenAP — and of the industry as a whole — looks very bright.”
Levy most recently served as executive vice-president of non-linear ad revenue at Fox Networks Group. Fox bought adtech company TrueX in 2015.