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Tremor Video buys TVN as it looks to compete with Google and Facebook

Josh Ismin

Ismin

Sydney-based five year-old programmatic video platform TVN has been bought by Tremor Video in another move that consolidates the ad tech space in APAC.

The will help TVN compete with the might of global giants Facebook and Google, according to Australian MD Josh Ismin.

TVN had been the exclusive reseller of video platform LiveRail until Facebook bought the company last year, a move which Ismin says forced them to look for other partners.

Late last week Tremor Video announced it had bought the company with Ismin telling Mumbrella: “We think this will be a really exciting partnership which brings a lot of investment into the region and we hope to expand quite aggressively over the coming years.

“The whole team has been incentivised to grow the business.”

Tremor VideoIsmin said he was confident he could continue to compete with the global giants arguing the sale now gave TVN stronger resources and a better video platform through Tremor.

“We have competed quite well in the programmatic video space with Google, etc,” he said.

“The focus for us is migrating publishers off LiveRail’s tech stack and onto our new platform, which we are really excited about. The platform is much faster and we will be spending time in market talking about what we do and how we can extend things to be more regional and global.”

The news emerges as Malaysian telco giant Axiata acquired the Southeast Asian operations of Komli Media.

TVN founders Peter Ostick and Josh Ismin will now join Tremor Video’s international team as vice presidents reporting to Greg Smith, head of international and programmatic at Tremor Video.

“With this acquisition, Tremor Video expands its programmatic presence in the high-growth APAC region by combining our proven technology with TVN’s premium publisher portfolio and demand coverage,” said Bill Day CEO of Tremor Video.

Ismin argues that key to both platforms was their focus on publishers and helping them navigate the complex world of programmatic.

“The likes of Facebook and Google see the value in adtech, just in the tech, but there isn’t a huge emphasis on the customer service side,” he said.

“I spoke with a publisher last week who said: ‘Google kind of drop you on the shore with a blanket cause there really isn’t a tour guide’.

“We believe that customer service is a key part of being able to take advantage of what technology allows and we share that with Tremor and we think we can compete with these guys.”

TVN operates in nine markets in the region including Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

Nic Christensen 

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