Sky has revealed that it will launch advertising targeted to specific audiences.
In a speech to the annual conference of advertising body ISBA, Sky COO Mike Darcey said Sky AdSmart would allow various ads to be downloaded and kept on the hard disk drive of users’ Sky+ receivers.
He stopped short of committing the broadcaster to a date for launch, though testing is expected to begin next year.
The system will be able to take customer information, including postcode, age and viewing packages, used with permission, to improve the targeting of adverts. So families will be more likely to be shown an ad for a family car, while a single woman household may get an ad for a hatchback.
New BSkyB subscribers all receive a Sky HD+ box which contains two separate hard drives. One allows viewers to record programmes, but the other stores ‘anytime’ programmes and soon, targeted ads.
Sky AdSmart was first introduced last year onto the Sky Player online catch-up service.