The ad agency veteran, who for over 20 years has planned and bought traditional TV sees Ultramercial’s patented ad solution as way to revolutionize the next generation of TV ad buys.

New York NY -- November 7, 2008 – With traditional TV ad spending coming under increased scrutiny because of ad skipping, a veteran in the industry, John Osborn, has joined the advisory board at Ultramercial LLC, to bring the company’s successful Internet-based “ad-as-payment” model to traditional Television planners, buyers and content providers.

“I discovered Ultramercial and it’s unique model a couple of years ago, while looking for a new advertising paradigm that could solve some of the nagging problems we’ve had in TV,” said Osborn, who bought TV airtime for Visa, DuPont, FedEx, GE and HBO, among others. “I was asking some very basic questions, such as ‘how many viewers are really engaged with our client’s spot inside a pod in primetime?’ Certainly, Nielsen didn’t have the answers.”

“Ultramercial’s ad unit fundamentally changes the way viewers experience the advertiser,” added Osborn. “Their model repositions the sponsor as the explicit provider of valuable content, instead of the interrupter. I was fascinated with the willingness of viewers to exchange their attention for the premium content they desired.”

In Ultramercial's TV 2.0 model, viewers are presented with a choice before gaining access to premium content they’ve selected: either pay for special On Demand content – or – get it free after completing a brief 30-sec interactive commercial. The viewer controls the experience from the start button to completion. Optional two-way activities within the commercial invite deeper learning, even a jump to connect to the sponsor, with the premium content queued up to run when the viewer ends the engagement.

The format has been adapted online by dozens of web properties, from The Economist to ABC.com and ABCNews.com, and has moved into mobile with Virgin Mobile's Sugar Mama program and into mobile WiFi access at leading airports such as Denver International.

Now, Ultramercial wants to bring this format to interactive television, with Osborn’s help. Aside from a pay option, the incentive to engage with the sponsor could become a choice between many commercials vs. one interactive Ultramercial ad unit, for a superior viewing experience.

“The TV commercial avoidance problem for advertisers can be solved with this format,” said Osborn. “The laboratory to discover viewer acceptance and viewer behavior for the next generation of television advertising is available today at the network and cable Internet sites that are providing VOD programming.”

Osborn believes that “Ultramercial is positioned to be the perfect ad solution for advertisers in what is often called ‘TV 2.0’.” Osborn continued, “what is really compelling is Ultramercial's understanding of the interactive ad format. Advertisers have tremendous learning and research opportunities."