National CineMedia Expands Programmatic Inventory Through New Partnership with Vistar Media

NCM's new partnership Media allows programmatic access to its big screen inventory via Vistar Media's SSP.

National CineMedia (NCM), the largest cinema advertising platform in the U.S., has announced an agreement with Vistar Media, a global provider of technology solutions for out-of-home (OOH) media. Through this partnership, NCM expands its premium, in-theater video advertising inventory to programmatic buyers through Vistar’s supply-side platform (SSP), creating an additional, highly efficient buying path for brands looking to reach coveted cinema audiences and providing advertisers access to NCM’s suite of data-driven solutions.

This announcement follows the introduction of programmatic and self-serve automated inventory buying to NCM’s offerings in 2024. In the first quarter of 2025, NCM saw continued accelerated growth of its programmatic revenue, demonstrating the strength and value of the addition of flexible buying options to the Company’s offerings.

“Cinema advertising delivers the kind of audience engagement and measurable outcomes that other media channels strive to achieve—and this is where powerful brand storytelling comes to life,” said Manu Singh, chief data and innovation officer at NCM. “As programmatic ad spend continues to grow, we are focused on making cinema media buying as intuitive, data-driven, and effective as possible. Partnering with Vistar is a strategic action that will allow advertisers streamlined access to our premium inventory, ensuring that compelling storytelling meets precision targeting at scale.”

With NCM’s suite of data-driven solutions, programmatic ad buyers can ...

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