Cable interactive ad venture taps new head

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Canoe Ventures, an interactive advertising joint venture formed by U.S. cable companies, named former Aegis Media Americas chief executive David Verklin as the head of new venture.

The venture is charged with developing a standard for interactive ads that the industry can use to enable features like sophisticated ads that are displayed around video-on-demand services and the ability to target cable TV viewers with relevant advertising.

Verklin, who will be based in New York City, joins on August 4.

Advertisers and programmers are looking for interactive features like voting and polling, interactive layers and the ability to target consumers said Landell Hobbs, Time Warner Cable's chief operating officer speaking at an investor conference on Monday.

The venture is jointly owned Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc; Cox Communications; Bright House Networks, Charter Communications and Cablevision Systems Corp.

The cable industry is hoping to mimic some of the strengths of Internet advertising. But they believe TV is a more robust and familiar medium for advertisers.

Hobbs said the cable operators have been working on ways to measure how effective the ads are, as well as technology standards.

"I don't want to come to Time Warner Cable and have to do it differently than I have to do at Comcast. I don't want to do it differently than I have to do with Cox," Hobbs said speaking of cable companies' advertising partners.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Derek Caney)