M6 Group plans app revamp

RTL-owned French broadcaster M6 Group is set to update its apps to provide better second screen advertising synchronisation, according to Martin Boronski, chief technology officer of its digital arm M6 Web.

Speaking at the OTTtv World Summit in London this week, Boronski said that in the coming days M6 would roll out an update that means when viewers watch a simulcast of its TV feed on a different device, the video ad pre-rolls will be “the same brand that is inside the ad on the broadcast side.”

“We are merging the broadcast analytics and the ad server technologies and analytics on our side in order to propose a unique experience and a unique flow for the brands,” said Boronski.

M6 launched its catchup service in 2006 and shortly after formed partnerships with the French ISPs. It aims to make its content available on all screens with M6 available to watch on mobiles and tablets, as well as devices like the Microsoft Xbox games console.

“If you take a helicopter view, all our content and all of the services that we are bringing to the end user are available around all the screens that we are managing today,” said Boronski.

Though he said that the majority of viewing is still done from a TV set, linked to a set-top box, he said mobile and tablet viewing was starting to catch up with the PC – currently the second most popular way to watch M6 content.

“We believe that in the next couple of months, there will be more users on tablets or on smartphones than on the browser,” said Boronski.