GroupM, the media investment group of advertising giant WPP, has launched a company that enables advertisers to target TV audiences across a range of platforms.

Finecast enables advertisers to precision-target viewers across on demand, linear and live streaming TV environments. It is said to help advertisers reach ‘hard-to-reach’ TV viewers, with over 180 targeting segments, via a single access point with standardised measurement. In addition, it has been integrated with [m]Platform to active campaign targeting at the household level using [m]Platform’s audience segments.

“Finecast is built to strengthen the TV ecosystem for advertisers and media partners alike. By unlocking the ability to be targeted in TV campaigns, Finecast opens the door for new advertisers who haven’t used TV before, and it gives traditional TV advertisers new ways to use the medium. This represents tremendous upside for TV broadcasters,” said Kelly Clark, global CEO at GroupM. “Through partnerships and joint investment, Finecast will also provide a platform for industry collaboration on new products and measurement standards.”

Finecast will be led Jakob Nielsen, former UK managing director at GroupM Digital, who has been named CEO of the company. Nielsen, who joined GroupM from Microsoft in 20009, will be supported by CPO Rich Astley.

The TV targeting company is live and running campaigns in the UK across TV channel brands, pay-TV platforms and set top boxes, video on demand and catch up TV services, over-the-top providers, and games consoles. This includes distribution across Sky, Virgin Media, Samsung, YouView, Amazon Fire, Roku, and gaming consoles such as Xbox.