Expresssway From Katz Placing GEICO Radio Ads

Katz Radio Group, the largest radio representation company in America representing more than 3,000 radio stations as their exclusive agent for National Spot Inventory, in partnership with GEICO and Horizon Media, announced today the first-ever live programmatic transaction for spot radio, in a pilot test utilizing its new advertising exchange, Expressway from Katz.

The activation is airing on multiple Entercom Radio stations, across various markets this week.

Expressway from Katz, an agnostic programmatic buying exchange designed to include all radio broadcasters, is being developed by Katz Radio Group to make radio even more attractive and easier to buy, allowing advertisers and agencies to achieve improved ROI through better audience segmentation and consumer targeting; transparency of campaign delivery through real time monitoring; and improved efficiency.

Ted Ward

“An industry-wide programmatic buying solution in audio allows us to better identify the most effective, targeted and efficient audio environments, enabling marketers to create a richer and more engaging connection with consumers,” said Ted Ward, VP of Marketing at GEICO. “This platform will give us better visibility into what programs, stations and day-parts have the best opportunity for increased engagement to further reinforce the value of audio as a key driver in our marketing mix.”

"A programmatic buying solution in the audio industry gives the agency and advertiser more viewability in real time on key data sets and streamlines the negotiation process,” said Lauren Russo, SVP, Managing Director of Audio and Promotions at Horizon Media. “The ability to track in real time provides greater accountability and the opportunity to not only optimize, but more importantly to prove and reinforce the ROI associated with investments in audio."

Mark Rosenthal

“With more and more dollars being shifted to programmatic buying, it was crucial for our industry to evolve our capabilities to allow for the inclusion of radio in this rapidly growing segment of the advertising industry,” said Mark Rosenthal, CEO of Katz Media Group.

“Radio has a phenomenal opportunity to drive new, substantial revenue to our sector by creating the media world’s first industry-wide programmatic buying exchange. Katz, with its incredible footprint across the country, is uniquely positioned to deliver the industry-wide programmatic solution. Through programmatic, radio can provide new tools to advertisers to buy more effectively and achieve improved ROI – a huge win for advertisers, agencies and the radio industry.”

Expressway from Katz is scheduled to launch in early 2016.