No financial terms of the acquisition were disclosed. In an increasingly competitive ad tech environment, the acquisition will further advance Samba TV to measure a greater immersive viewing experience from both linear and streaming. For example, with the acquisition, Samba TV will be able to identify and analyze additional on-screen content including brands logos, products and people in real-time. The capabilities also include product placement, logos as well as integrated ads. The expectation is to gain a greater awareness for marketers into the value of its connected TV advertising investments in a non-intrusive manner.

I recently interviewed some of the top data science leaders from Comcast/Freewheel, Condé Nast, ViacomCBS, Audoir, USA Today Network, and Samba TV on the biggest trends, challenges, and opportunities they see for ML & AI in media, advertising, & entertainment -- and what the future may hold. What are some of the biggest trends you'll see being adopted by the entertainment and media industries? Christopher Whitely, Senior Director of Applied Analytics at Comcast/FreeWheel, shares "There are a few areas that we'll see adopted by M&E industries in the coming months and years, including more contextual advertising, where advertising creative assets are matched to appropriate program content algorithmically. Federated learning is also a new trend, which refers to modeling using machine learning without sharing data sets. Privacy is important, so I expect we'll see continued use of aggregated customer segments and clean rooms for marketing and analytics. Also, lookalike models will help advertisers reach potential customers and optimize campaigns for the greatest effect."