Warner Bros. Discovery joins OpenAP ad initiative

Warner Bros. Discovery used its May 13 upfront presentation in New York to put ad measurement at the center of its pitch to marketers. The company said it is joining an OpenAP-led initiative to create a standardized conversion API for TV advertising and introduced what it called an “Always-On Measurement & Attribution Dashboard” for real-time campaign reporting. The announcements came during a presentation at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden that also opened with Anderson Cooper leading a tribute to Ted Turner. Sales chiefs Ryan Gould and Bobby Voltaggio also addressed advertiser uncertainty around Paramount Skydance’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. ### What exactly did Warner Bros. Discovery announce at the upfront? Warner Bros. Discovery said on May 13 that it had added several ad products and measurement tools, including the “Always-On Measurement & Attribution Dashboard,” which it described as a real-time view of campaign performance for buyers. The company also introduced “Unbreakable,” a cross-platform brand solution, alongside products such as Scene-Level Moments, Shoppable Pause Ads, Dynamic Creative and Agentic Experiences. (wbd.com) AdExchanger reported that Warner Bros. Discovery also used the stage to disclose its participation in an OpenAP initiative focused on a standardized conversion API, or CAPI, for video campaigns. That effort is aimed at linking advertisers’ outcomes data with their own first-party data and campaign exposure data across multiple TV publishers. (wbd.com) ### What is the OpenAP initiative meant to do? OpenAP said nine media companies — A+E Global Media, AMC Global Media, Fox, Hallmark Media, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Scripps Networks, TelevisaUnivision and Warner Bros. Discovery — are backing a shared infrastructure for “unified outcomes and audience buying.” The centerpiece is a standardized, cross-publisher conversion API that lets advertisers connect first-party conversion and outcome data to exposure data through a single integration point. (adexchanger.com) The IAB Tech Lab describes an event and conversion API, commonly called CAPI, as a standard for sending marketing events from advertisers’ systems to ad platforms and partners so campaigns can be optimized and measured against outcomes. OpenAP said its version for TV is intended to turn fragmented outcome data into a “consistent, reusable signal” across publishers in linear television and streaming. (openap.tv) ### Who else is involved, and when do results come? OpenAP said the project will start with a pilot phase involving select advertisers, agencies and attribution providers. The company said early engagements will focus on showing the benefits of a unified approach to outcomes and cross-publisher execution, with initial results to be shared at industry events over the next year. (iabtechlab.com) Ryan Gould, Warner Bros. Discovery’s president of U.S. advertising sales, go-to-market, and chairman of OpenAP’s board, said in the OpenAP release that advertisers face pressure to prove performance while managing complexity. His statement described the initiative as a way to reduce fragmentation and create more consistent measurement across premium video. (openap.tv) ### Why did the presentation also focus on Ted Turner and the Paramount deal? Anderson Cooper opened the presentation with a tribute to Ted Turner, according to Variety’s account of the event at Madison Square Garden. Variety and The Hollywood Reporter both reported that Gould and Voltaggio then addressed what they called the “Ellison in the room,” a reference to Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison and the pending transaction involving Warner Bros. (openap.tv) Discovery. The Hollywood Reporter said Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approved the merger in late April, leaving regulatory hurdles still to clear. Variety and The Hollywood Reporter both described a presentation shaped by that backdrop, while Warner Bros. Discovery’s own release focused on ad products, measurement and content. (variety.com) ### What should advertisers watch next? OpenAP said the next step is a collaborative pilot with named participants from the buy side and measurement sector, though it did not identify those companies in its May 13 release. Warner Bros. Discovery said its new dashboard is already part of the measurement package it presented to marketers for the 2026 upfront cycle. (hollywoodreporter.com) Over the next year, the clearest public markers will be OpenAP’s promised pilot updates at industry events and any additional disclosures from Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, Fox, Paramount and the other participating publishers about advertiser and attribution partners. (openap.tv)