AI media buying tests are expanding to audio. Rochester, N.Y.-based independent media agency Butler/Till and iHeartMedia have been testing the use of AI media buying agents on streaming audio and podcast inventory, Digiday has learned.
The two companies piloted an agentic buying solution for a four-week campaign running between July and August, on behalf of a U.S. client in the agricultural sector that Butler/Till declined to identify.
The system used AI agents to activate media buys totalling just under $10,000 during that time. It used two AI agents: one developed by Butler/Till and one by iHeartMedia, designed as a matched pair using an MCP server. A human planner provided the buying agent with a campaign brief, which it then took to the publisher’s agent. The pilot differed from earlier tests not only because it used audio inventory, but because it involved a direct buy between an agency and a publisher. Previous pilots were run with middlemen like SSP Pubmatic.
Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.