• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, July 15, 2014

Interpublic’s Mediabrands has announced a deal with ABC to participate in a trial of a “reserved programmatic” trading system for its online video advertising. The deal, which was done through Mediabrands’ Magna Global unit, will begin its trial this month.

ABC, which previously announced the concept during the network’s upfront advertising sales presentation in New York earlier this summer, said it is working with Freewheel’s Fourfronts Programmatic initiative to conduct the trial, which will enable a “select group of advertisers” to apply their own first-party or third-party data to plan, buy and optimize campaigns via ABC’s online video inventory.

Magna, which previously announced that AOL’s Adap.tv would serve as its primarily video ad platform, said Adap.tv effectively becomes the first “approved DSP” -- a demand-side platform -- in Freewheel’s offering.

“We’re excited to increase the pace of change with ABC, a clear market leader both in terms of audience and innovation,” Todd Gordon, executive vice president and head of U.S. investment at Magna, stated as part o the announcement.