Christian Lewis

Everybody (Could) Know Your Name
July 27, 2007

At this past week’s CTAM Summit in Washington, D.C., Multichannel News asked first-time attendee – news assistant Christian Lewis, 30 – to look over the shiny objects and glitzy services displayed by technology vendors at the Digital Media Lab, conveniently stationed between our Multichannel newsroom and where the general sessions were held. Here are his dispatches:

Imagine making an anonymous call to a cable operator to inquire about service options and shortly thereafter receiving a call from that company’s representative, who now has possession of your name, number, address, occupation and household statistics.

Caller ID hasn’t evolved that far yet, but companies are aligning toward just such a reality.

Among the companies showing off for CTAM Summit attendees was on-demand data service provider TargusInfo, which has led campaigns for ESPN Deportes, Starz Entertainment and Ticketmaster, among others.

In addition to streamlined databases, the Vienna, Va.-based company offers telco-sourced or telco-verified data including the caller’s name, phone number and address; date and time of call; duration of call; business or consumer indicator; and wireless or landline indicator.

Targus also offers advanced marketing services that allow businesses to profile callers with demographics, remarket to callers within 48 hours and market to new movers through direct mailings.

The marketer’s presence at the CTAM Summit didn’t go unnoticed, with print and digital mailing companies such as FirstMarketing expressing interest in potential partnerships.

Beat the Traffic

Another company looking to infiltrate the cable industry is Campbell, Calif.-based Triangle Software, the brains behind traffic-forecasting software Beat the Traffic.

Now in its second year live, Beat the Traffic offers 24/7 real-time traffic reporting capabilities to television channels. To date, the system has been adopted by 12 broadcast channels in markets including Las Vegas, Phoenix, Fresno and Fort Myers, Fla. An application was coming soon to the nation’s capital, and was on display at the CTAM Summit Central.

Beat the Traffic provides three-dimensional, color-coded mapping of local and regional traffic conditions, including street signs and exit markers, topography and waterways, landmark icons and accident reporting, as well as high-definition graphics for HD local newscasts.

Triangle Software has also designed forecasting features, such as best-route plotting, alternate route maps and best and worst drive time scenarios.

Posted by Christian Lewis on July 27, 2007 | Comments (0)