Cable Venture Suspends First Advertising Product

DEBORAH YAO

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A joint venture formed by the nation's six largest cable operators is suspending trials of its first advertising product before it even gets off the ground.

Canoe Ventures said Friday that it will discontinue plans for now to launch "community addressable messaging," which sends ads that vary by household depending on factors such as income and age.

The product has sparked privacy concerns. Privacy groups fear that these ads could lead to unwanted tracking of viewing habits and discrimination against poorer households.

Canoe cited limitations of older cable systems, and one problem was that ads had to be scheduled more than a week in advance of air date. Programmers usually set ad schedules a day in advance of broadcast.

Moreover, certain Motorola receivers would have to be upgraded for the ads to work properly. Canoe didn't want to force operators to upgrade.

Confirming an earlier report by Multichannel News, Canoe said it is working on a more flexible form of addressable ads for later unveiling that would bypass the older ad insertion systems of cable operators.