U.S. cable company Cablevision has created a new digital marketing/commerce division with the goal of attracting advertisers and subscribers as it seeks to fend off a challenge in the New York metro area by Verizon FiOS, Mulitchannel News reports. The new division is headed by Patricia Gottesman, a 28-year Cablevision vet, who has been named EVP of digital marketing and commerce.
Initially, the group will start working on a linear-channel-based, TV-remote-enabled shopping experience. Cablevision has already been experimenting with linear and multiplatform advertising models. Two-and-a-half years ago, Cablevision released Optimum Homes and Optimum Autos, linear channels that showcase real estate and cars for sale from area vendors. Those channels are also supported by a broadband component on Cablevision’s Optimum Online Internet service.
This is shaping up to be Cablevision’s biggest challenge as an MSO to date. And despite the court loss we reported on earlier involving the creation of a network-based DVR service, Cablevision is likely to maintain its aggressive roll-out of new digital initiatives. The company is in 3 million homes and businesses in its 4.6 million-home footprint in the New York metro area and reports 78 percent penetration of its iO digital product, the highest such penetration among major cable operators.
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