Samba TV Acquires An Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning Company

This morning Samba TV, a global television tech and provider of global cross-platform audience and analytics. announced the acquisition of Disruptel, an artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) company. No financial terms of the acquisition were disclosed.

In an increasingly competitive ad tech environment, the acquisition will further advance Samba TV to measure a greater immersive viewing experience from both linear and streaming. For example, with the acquisition, Samba TV will be able to identify and analyze additional on-screen content including brands logos, products and people in real-time. The capabilities also include product placement, logos as well as integrated ads. The expectation is to gain a greater awareness for marketers into the value of its connected TV advertising investments in a non-intrusive manner.

The announcement comes at a time when Connected TV ad spend continues to grow. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), projects CTV ad dollars this year to increase by 39% totaling $21.2 billion. In 2021 CTV ad spend was $15.2 billion, a year-over-year increase of 57%. Furthermore, an online survey of 400 ad agency executives conducted earlier this year by Standard Media Index and Advertiser Perceptions found 76% had said CTV was a must-buy. Also, in a first, the ad spend for political ads during the 2022 midterm elections are expected to exceed local cable.

Currently, Samba’s ACR technology measures first-party data in 46 million opted-in televisions, from 24 smart TV manufacturers brands in over 100 countries. Samba TV’s robust panel supplies an independent audience currency for linear and streaming. With audience measurement currently in a state of flux, Samba has agreements with seven prominent ad agencies and holding companies. Earlier this year Samba struck an agreement with Disney as a third-party partner to measure their audiences, this will include Disney+ when it launches an ad supported tier early next month.

In recent years, Samba TV has been focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning as part of their suite of deliverables. In the press release, Samba TV co-founder and CEO Ashwin Navin noted, “Artificial intelligence and machine learning are transforming nearly every aspect of our lives today, and we are excited about its growing relevance in television.”

Navin adds, “The technology focused on facial/content recognition but the work is well underway to be able to deploy the AI for far greater detection efforts such as brand recognition enabling a major auto company or consumer goods company to measure how often their brands appear both organically as well as through paid product placements. There are many new applications we will be rolling out in the AI space in the coming months.”

Whereas Samba can already recognize everything on the screen from a content perspective, the upgrade will have such interactive features as a smart pause, a functionality that will provide on-screen supplemental information about actors and actresses and a non-intrusive pause for the integrated ad units along with additional product information enhancing the overall viewer experience.

Disruptel CEO Alex Quinn adds, “With more TV data, in more countries and more TV brands than any other company in the world, Samba AI is the perfect home for our machine learning expertise so that we can be in a position to lead the industry in AI.” The acquisition will expand the capabilities for both television manufacturers and publishers.

After years of R&D, Samba TV had introduced Samba AI at last year’s CES. Since then, they have been making critical investments in Samba AI to support every facet of the Connected TV ecosystem. With integration currently underway, Samba TV plans to unveil their new Samba AI-driven experiences for TV manufacturers at next year’s CES in January.

Samba’s Navin concludes, “This acquisition brings us closer to the living room viewing experience, where consumers are empowered to go deeper into the content they are viewing, advertisers will gain greater insights into the value of their sponsorships and TV manufacturers will capture new opportunities to differentiate their products.”