Hamilton TV station CHCH TV has become the first station in Canada to let advertisers customize their message according to their geolocation.

The new service relies on the INVIDI Advatar addressable advertising platform that allows location-specific content delivery. Its development resulted from collaborative efforts between Invidi Technologies Corp., Cogeco, CHCH and software distributor Capital Networks Ltd.

"Cogeco is proud to be the first Canadian cable distributor to support television advertising by geolocation," said Jean-Pierre Caveen, vice-president, affiliate, partner and carrier relations at Cogeco. "This new and more efficient advertising opportunity brings the print direct marketing model to television."

The system will allow CHCH's advertisers to deliver tailored messages during a commercial break to households of a specific geographical area within Cogeco's footprint in the Golden Horseshoe area of Southern Ontario.

The first advertiser to take advantage of the system is the New Democratic Party of Ontario, whose ads were restricted to households within the Niagara Falls byelection riding boundaries.

Targeted ads will be available during CHCH's key 6 and 11 p.m. evening newscasts, as well as throughout the channel's prime time movies and programs including U.S. simulcasts of 20/20, 48 Hours and 60 Minutes.