This is the final installment of our series highlighting TV industry thought leaders who attended WideOrbit Connect Networks in November 2018.

Dan Callahan of Fox Networks Group sat down with Beet.TV at WideOrbit Connect Networks to discuss the challenges of finding the right ad loads for viewers on connected TV devices and how they vary across linear and digital programming.

Fox Networks facilitates advanced viewer targeting regardless of how content is consumed. Reaching audiences of live linear programming is “a big part of it”, said Callahan, as is targeting viewers consuming OTT/CTV and set-top VOD content. “We are looking to bring this cross-screen.”

Determining optimal ad loads is a challenge regardless of whether the content is being consumed over linear or digital platforms. Callahan thinks it comes a bit easier for scripted, on-demand content. “You can do things with the breaks, shorten the breaks, adjust the breaks.” For un- scripted programming like new or sports, things get  trickier, especially when urgent news breaks ro a game runs into overtime  or. “You don’t know when that commercial break is going to happen.”

Callahan is excited by Hulu’s approach to serving ad content. Its  “different flavors of subscription” offers Hulu customers the option to experience increasingly targeted ads by sharing varying degrees of personal information. Hulu’s “holy grail,” says Callahan, is its ability to deliver bespoke ad experiences that engage viewers while, “serving the right ad to the right person with the right format, creating a less cluttered, more meaningful ad experience.”

Watch the full interview with Dan Callahan for more: