Cable Guys Leave Ebay Hanging

So, I just got off the phone with The Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau (CAB), and apparently the group’s news about its choice to leave Ebay’s Online Media Exchange was deemed too juicy to wait until Monday (originally, it was embargoed till then). So, the organization decided to put it out, and has been on the phone with press all day.

I was unable to get much detail today, but here are the basics. The CAB will no longer participate in the exchange trial, effective immediately. The statement from CAB President and CEO Sean Cunningham is pretty damning, too: “We appreciated the opportunity to test the system – throughout our review it became apparent that the Media Exchange was too narrow an application, had clear connectivity issues related to cable’s emerging end-to-end e-business platforms and lacked the provisions necessary for capturing critical strategic and idea-driven intelligence during a buy….Additionally, the refusal by major members of the agency community to consider this interface reinforced our conclusion that ending our participation was the correct decision for our members and their advertising clients.”

You’ve got to wonder why agencies weren’t interested in this, but with the CAB leaving, it probably won’t help attract more.