Horizon’s Identity Framework blu. Combined with iHeartMedia’s SmartAudio Will Deliver More Audience Targeting for Brands

NEW YORK —  November  4, 2020 — Horizon Media, a leader in delivering data-driven business outcomes for some of the most innovative and ambitious brands, today announced a data partnership with iHeartMedia, the No. 1 audio platform in America, to integrate their respective data platforms for audio targeting to provide greater visibility into total audience impressions for Horizon clients and to be able offer brands data-based audience planning optimizationacross iHeartMedia’s broadcast and digital platform, including its more than 270 million monthly consumers on its broadcast platform alone.

This level of data integration will provide Horizon Media and their clients with unique insight into audience targeting and propensity and have a significant impact on campaign effectiveness and the ability to drive better business outcomes for Horizon clients.

“Leveraging data to inform and enhance our negotiations will contribute to growth in the audio sector and more importantly increase ROI while providing attribution solutions for our clients,” said Lauren Russo, EVP Managing Partner, Audio Investment.

“Horizon continues to be ahead of the curve with their programmatic audio offerings and we are excited to partner with them on this innovative integration,” said Justin Nesci, Executive Vice President of Advanced Audio & Data Revenue for iHeartMedia. “This partnership allows them to continue to advance their capabilities for data-driven planning, activation and measurement for broadcast campaigns – and this data integration will be the first time iHeart has mapped an agency’s full identity graph within our SmartAudio platform.”

The integration partnership combines iHeartMedia’s SmartAudio platform that has mapped first-party listening data across its more than 270 million listeners by market, station and daypart, with

Horizon’s identity framework blu. that is used to identify high-value targets at an individual level and where to best reach them. blu. (branded with a lower case ‘b’ and period) has access to 283MM+ individuals in the U.S., a 90% household penetration, which are licensed directly from TransUnion™. Horizon uses blu. to build audiences and pinpoint those individuals (BluIDs) that present the highest potential value for clients. The combined data from these two platforms will provide Horizon Media with greater visibility into total audience impressions for audiences built within the blu. platform. and the opportunity to optimize broadcast radio plans with those audiences. 

This is another in a long list of industry firsts for Horizon Media and their audio teams. In 2015, Horizon Media made history with a pilot test of the first-ever live programmatic transaction for spot radio with Jelli, the largest technology platform for the global radio market. Horizon Media then partnered with Jelli’s demand-side platform SpotPlan® as the first media agency to power all of its programmatic radio ad buying operations for several of its clients agency-wide.The blu. SmartAudio Audiences will be available for buyers within Jelli’s demand-side platform for planning purposes.  Continuing as a pioneer in the audio marketplace, Horizon Media also extended its use of SpotPlan to activate audio upfronts on behalf of clients.

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About Horizon Media

Horizon Media, Inc. is a leader in delivering data-driven business outcomes for some of the most innovative and ambitious brands. The company was founded in 1989, is headquartered in New York, and has offices in Los Angeles and Toronto. With estimated billings of approximately $9 billion and over 2,400 employees, Horizon is the second largest U.S. media agency according to the AdAge Datacenter.

Recognized as one of the world’s ten most innovative marketing and advertising companies by Fast Company, Horizon Media has been named Media Agency of the Year by MediaPost, Adweek and AdAge and is known for its highly personal approach to client service. Renowned for its culture, Horizon is also consistently named to all the prestigious annual Best Places to Work lists published by AdAge, Crain’s New York Business and Los Angeles Business Journal, and was named by Fortune as a best place to work for Diversity, Women and Millennials.

Bill Koenigsberg, President, CEO and Founder of Horizon Media, has earned a host of industry accolades and, in 2019, garnered the industry’s highest honor when he was inducted into the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Hall of Fame.