Replay TV, aka catch-up TV, is one of the great success stories of the digital TV revolution. But multi-channel operators still struggle to turn popularity into profit. They’re leaving money on the table because they lack ad break markers.
Research we conducted for our new e-guide shows broadcast TV ad breaks are, on average, 6 minutes and 15 seconds long. In a separate, independent report by Hub Entertainment Research, users were asked about their attitude to ads. Hub defined a “reasonable” ad load as being no more than 90 seconds in one ad break, and still only a quarter of viewers said they’d pay attention to all the ads. How many are paying attention to the 6 minutes of ads on a replay TV service? I guess that it’s pretty low because they’re fast-forwarding to the rest of the show (if trick-play is enabled) or they are off doing something else. That’s bad news for user experience, customer churn and for advertising CPMs.
When the location of ad breaks is unknown, operators can’t adjust the ad experience, for instance by changing the (amount of) ads for replay viewing. They risk frustrating viewers with too many ads but also with irrelevant ads, and losing ground to competitors who deliver a smoother, more up to date ad experience.
You can learn more about the monetization use cases for ad break markers in our e-guide. In this blog, I’ll explore the problem with ad marker availability, why that is a problem for TV operators who want to update their ad experiences, and how our solution for detecting ad break detection helps.
Ad break markers are inserted within a broadcast signal or stream to denote the start and end times of commercial breaks. These markers enable broadcasters and operators to offer targeted advertising, ad-skipping and other personalized viewing experiences, as well as enforcing trick-play restrictions mandated in their licensing agreements.
The industry standard for signalling ad break markers is SCTE-35, which defines methods for inserting markers or cue messages into digital video streams to signal ad insertion points, program boundaries, and other content-related events. SCTE-35 markers can be included in broadcast transport streams, as well as other streaming format formats such as MPEG-DASH and HLS.
Although the standard has existed and in use for many years (it was first published in 2001), it’s not a silver bullet as adoption varies geographically. For instance, in the U.S. SCTE-35 is widely supported. A key reason is that distributors traditionally were allotted part of the broadcast to perform local ad insertion. The US market also needed to support (sports) black-outs and regional content windows for syndicated broadcast TV networks which further increased demand for broadcast signalling.
The use cases driving adoption in the US were absent in other markets, however. For instance in Europe, adoption only started around 2010, driven by the availability of broadband internet and advertisers expecting the same type of ad-targeting they have on the web.
So, despite the established SCTE-35 standard, many broadcasters outside the US lag behind in implementation. The situation also differs per country, which is an issue as TV operators typically carry channels from several countries. Adding to the equation is that upgrading broadcasting playout systems to provide SCTE-35 markers can be costly, and may only happen after the current playout reaches the end of life (which could be 5-10 years).
The present situation is that a TV operator may get ad markers from some of their broadcaster partners, but for many other channels they are not available yet, which leads to inconsistencies across the entire channel line-up. Users won’t understand why they can skip ads on one channel but not on another, or why some content has 6-minute ad breaks while other programs have only two 30-second mid-rolls, which leads to user dissatisfaction and eventually, churn.
This leaves operators facing the challenge of identifying ad breaks themselves, to support new use cases. Manual tagging is impractical at scale, causing delays, while developing in-house automated detection tools is expensive, time-consuming, and often outside the core expertise of operators.
The good news? We have developed a solution that can automatically detect ad breaks and provide ad markers for channels where SCTE-35 markers are missing. Ad Break Distillery uses AI-based video analysis of the video signal to identify ad breaks in broadcast streams. Some key features include:
The solution is already in use by several Media Distillery customers, including Swisscom.
With our solution, broadcasters and pay-TV operators can finally bridge the gap between traditional linear TV and modern streaming expectations.
By investing in automated ad break signaling, operators can:
As the industry moves toward more flexible and data-driven advertising models, the ability to accurately detect ad breaks will become a defining factor in success.
If you’re ready to take control of your ad strategy and maximize revenue from replay content, our latest e-guide, How Pinpointing Ad Break Positions Drives Profitability, is a must-read.
Download it now to uncover:
And if you’d like a demo of the power of Ad Break Distillery, book your meeting now!
April 10, 2025
