Offering media buyers packages of online video ads that target several demographic categories, advertising network BrightRoll launched its BrightRoll Broadcast product Tuesday.

Similar to the way top pay-TV providers Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) and DirecTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV) sell advertisers packages that run across dozens of networks, BrightRoll groups multiple Web publishers from the same content niche in advertising deals with media buyers.

BrightRoll says its advertising network reaches three quarters of the top 100 Web publishers ranked by comScore Inc. BrightRoll Broadcast targets several demographic categories, including news, sports, women, and kids.

CEO Tod Sacerdoti says BrightRoll has struck three ad-sales deals valued at more than $1 million in the past year. The average BrightRoll advertising deal involves 20 publishers, and the campaigns consist almost entirely of pre-roll Internet video ads. Ad agencies using the BrightRoll Broadcast product include TBWA\Chiat\Day and Starcom USA.

BrightRoll doesn't distribute any overlay ads on Internet videos. "Overlays are completely irrelevant. We see no demand for overlays," Sacerdoti said, noting that only 1 percent or 2 percent of all Internet video ads are overlays.

The average CPM [cost per thousand impressions] for a BrightRoll ad campaign is about $20 for pre-roll and mid-roll ads, higher than the average CPM for prime-time TV, which is in the high-single digits.

"We are trying to find high-volume, highly branded inventory that is priced much closer to television, and we're being quite successful about it," Sacerdoti said.

San Francisco-based BrightRoll competes against several other advertising networks, including Tremor Media, Broadband Enterprises, and VideoEgg. The firm has raised more than $6 million since being founded in 2006.

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