GroupM has struck a long-term addressable advertising deal with Cablevision that will look to simplify what has been a cumbersome process for buying addressable TV ads.

As part of the deal, Modi Media, GroupM's advanced TV business, gains access to Cablevision's Total Audience Application, an audience-planning tool that allows agencies to make more targeted, impressions-based TV buys.

The deal is designed to make the process to buy addressable ads more automated, thus lowering the barrier of entry that has made it difficult for marketers and agencies to experiment.

"Addressable is complicated. There is a lot of data, technology and manual labor that goes into doing these deals," said Michael Bologna, president, Modi Media. "What we have done here is set the parameters and done as much of the leg work upfront as possible to allow us to execute quickly and as real-time as possible."

Modi and Cablevision did much of the pre-planning, like setting rate cards per segment, in advance, so they can quickly execute for clients, Mr. Bologna said.

TAPP gives Modi and its clients access to Cablevision's census-level audience data, which is derived from set-top boxes in about 3 million subscribers' homes. This means buyers can target customers in specific zip codes who are in the market for a new car, for example.

As part of the deal, Modi guaranteed it will spend an undisclosed amount on Cablevision's addressable ad product.

"By making ad operations, data and analytics more turnkey, we hope to streamline the entire campaign process for Modi and their clients," Ben Tatta, president, media sales, Cablevision, said in a statement.

Modi is currently in conversations with other providers in the hopes of striking similar deals. Mr. Bologna noted that in order for addressable to truly be beneficial to marketers it needs to work at scale across operators.