Alliant vs Gracenote

Alliant Appoints Joseph Byrum as Chief Data and Engineering Officer

Alliant, a provider of consumer data and intelligence, announced the appointment of Joseph Byrum as Chief Data and Engineering Officer. Byrum will lead the company's data strategy, data science, and engineering capabilities, focusing on modernizing the technology stack and expanding the application of AI and machine learning. He brings over two decades of experience in data science, AI, and technology, having previously served as CTO at Consilience AI and Chief Data Scientist at Principal Financial Group. CEO Scarlett Shipp highlighted Byrum's experience in building and scaling innovative platforms. This appointment follows Alliant's acquisition of AnalyticsIQ a year prior, which combined deterministic purchase behavior and predictive intelligence. Byrum's role is part of Alliant's continued investment in its people and technology to deliver predictive data to brands.

• Alliant appointed Joseph Byrum as Chief Data and Engineering Officer.
• Byrum will lead data strategy, data science, and engineering capabilities.
• Byrum previously served as CTO at Consilience AI and Chief Data Scientist at Principal Financial Group.

How Predictive Modeling Helped Harlequin Reader Service Reactivate Cancelled Subscribers 3x Faster

Alliant published a case study on August 19, 2026 showing how its predictive modeling solution helped Harlequin Reader Service reactivate cancelled subscribers three times faster. The success story highlights the effectiveness of data-driven marketing in improving subscriber reengagement and ROI. The article is part of Alliant's Success Stories resource library and references the company's broader predictive data offerings.

• Alliant published a case study on August 19, 2026 about Harlequin Reader Service.
• Predictive modeling enabled Harlequin Reader Service to reactivate cancelled subscribers 3x faster.
• The case study is listed under Alliant's Success Stories resource library.

Index Exchange CEO: Sell-Side Innovation, CTV Transparency, AI Agents

In an interview with ADZINE, Andrew Casale, CEO of Index Exchange, discusses the evolution of programmatic advertising. He argues that sell-side innovation, including modeling and containerization, is increasing complexity but also value. Buyers can now run their own models on the sell-side, democratizing decision-making. Casale addresses the black box concern, noting that while the internal logic of buyer models is opaque, the platform observes their actions. He highlights the shift towards modular infrastructure, with Index enabling data providers and DSPs to run modules on its cloud. Regarding CTV, Casale emphasizes the need for more transparency, noting that while genre data is increasingly available, show and episode data remain limited due to legal and distribution issues. He discusses the evolution of pod serving and the role of agentic advertising, distinguishing between workflow automation and impression-level decisioning, which remains the domain of mathematical models. Casale sees AI agents as useful for automating manual tasks but not as a revolution that will shift power from walled gardens.

• Andrew Casale, CEO of Index Exchange, discussed sell-side innovation, CTV transparency, and AI agents in an interview.
• Index Exchange processes around 20 million requests per second.
• Most of Index Exchange's CTV supply includes genre data; show and episode data are often kept for direct deals.

CTV Show-Level Data Glut Fails to Deliver Optimization Control

While CTV buyers increasingly demand show-level transparency, a new IAB report shows 43% lack confidence in inventory. Despite progress in show-level reporting, true program-level optimization remains elusive. Publishers and exchanges offer data, but limitations persist: incomplete bidstream signals, "unknown" titles, and lack of scaled optimization solutions. Privacy laws like VPPA, combined with household-level data, complicate sharing. Linear TV offers program-level control by design, while CTV faces a gap between reporting and active optimization. Buyers can receive post-campaign reports but can't programmatically target individual shows at scale, except via programmatic guaranteed deals. The industry is working toward compliant, scaled optimization, but meaningful progress is still needed.

• 43% of CTV buyers have little or no confidence in the inventory they buy (IAB).
• Major exchanges do not offer scaled show-level optimization as a standard product.
• One top-five streamer's SSP integration prevents pulling show-level reporting.

Gracenote expands AI product roadmap with sports MCP server, entertainment SLM and agents

The expansion comes as companies adopt general-purpose LLMs to improve viewer experiences, guide content decisions and streamline operations.