The RTL group acquires the British video streaming technology company Yospace

Yospace's solution provides seamless, targeted advertising insertion into streaming services. The acquisition is key to further growing the RTL group's global ad-tech and streaming business.

The Luxembourg group RTL Group has signed an agreement to acquire control from the British video technology company Yospace.

Yospace has developed one of the most advanced technologies for server-side dynamic ad insertion (SSDAI, for its acronym in English) that allows the replacement of existing spots of a broadcast flow with more personalized and targeted advertising. Se espera que SSDAI se convierta en el estándar de facto para servir sin problemas anuncios publicitarios en entornos de streaming de alta calidad.

En esencia, la innovadora tecnología de Yospace ofrece la publicidad adecuada, en el momento adecuado, de acuerdo con las normas establecidas por los propietarios de los medios de comunicación. La tecnología de Yospace sirve actualmente a los principales propietarios de medios de comunicación de Europa, Estados Unidos y Asia. Entre sus clientes se encuentran BT Sport, TV4, ITV y Seven West Media.

Yospace se centra en el segmento de streaming premium, que es también el mercado de más rápido crecimiento y más importante para la compañía global de tecnología ad-tech del Grupo RTL, SpotX. Este segmento de mercado incluye vídeo bajo demanda (VOD) y vídeo en directo que se transmite a cualquier dispositivo conectado a Internet. Como resultado, la adquisición de Yospace complementa la pila de tecnología avanzada de RTL Group al asegurar una tecnología clave que puede ganar, retener y escalar clientes de medios de alta calidad, incluyendo a las emisoras de RTL Group y los servicios de streaming.

Bert Habets, CEO of RTL Group, states that "the acquisition of Yospace is an important step in the development of our total video product portfolio and will help drive two strategic objectives at the same time. First, we gain a competitive, fully integrated and profitable solution, which is the key to further growing our technology advertising business. Our goal is to continue expanding SpotX to become a leading independent monetization platform for broadcasters, video on demand services and publishers.

Por otro lado, esta adquisición también ayudará a construir campeones locales de streaming en los mercados en los que tenemos fuertes familias de canales. La tecnología de Yospace hace que la publicidad en los servicios de streaming sea más personal, lo que significa una mejor experiencia para el consumidor y una mejor monetización de nuestro inventario de publicidad premium”.

Tim Sewell, CEO of Yospace, highlights that "our customers make significant investments in their video offerings and content licensing. Yospace has proven that it can provide unrivaled quality of service even with millions of simultaneous users. This new relationship with RTL Group will not only allow us to expand our customer base to all entities of the largest European broadcast and video network, but RTL Group is also fully committed to supporting the development of our services to offer more innovative products to media owners around the world."

RTL Group will pay up to $33 million (approximately €29 million) before cash and debt adjustments related to the full acquisition of Yospace, including upfront and performance-related components.

Under the terms of the transaction, RTL Group will appoint three of the five members of Yospace's Board of Directors. Tim Sewell, CEO of Yospace, and David Springall, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), will continue to lead the company's day-to-day operations, reporting to the Board of Directors.