AI is rapidly moving from promise to practice in streaming TV advertising, reshaping how campaigns are planned, executed and experienced. But as adoption accelerates, there remains no clear answer to what success actually looks like across all parts of the industry.
While buyers and sellers drive investment and monetization decisions, viewers ultimately determine whether advertising works. Examining input from media buyers, sellers and thousands of viewers offers a more complete view of how AI can and should evolve.
Buyers: augmenting expertise, not replacing it
AI’s value for buyers is rooted in improving execution.
FreeWheel research shows that nearly half (43%) of buyers identify campaign planning and optimization as the area where AI can make the most immediate impact. This reflects a clear demand for greater efficiency across increasingly complex TV-buying environments.
From campaign setup to pacing and performance monitoring, AI is already reducing manual effort and enabling faster, more precise decision-making.
However, buyers are not looking to hand over full control to AI. Only 22% say they are open to fully autonomous campaign management. Instead, there is a strong preference for maintaining human oversight, ensuring that strategy, accountability and final decision-making remain firmly in human hands.
Buyers view agentic AI as a tool to elevate their work. The most valuable tools are intelligent assistants that surface insights, automate repetitive tasks and enable more responsive optimization.
Sellers: better value and monetization
For sellers, the priority is not automation of transactions but better monetization of supply.
While only 26% see agentic selling as a near-term focus, there is strong demand for AI tools that improve how inventory is allocated, classified and priced. These capabilities are essential to stand out and maximize yield.
AI enables sellers to bring greater intelligence to their inventory by analyzing audience signals, contextual alignment and historical performance. This leads to more effective packaging, dynamic pricing strategies and stronger differentiation in the market, which leads to more operational efficiency and a clearer articulation of inventory value.
Measurement is a critical piece of this equation. With 69% of sellers identifying attribution and incrementality as the most important AI capabilities to help them compete with social media, the ability to prove ROI has become central to growth. When sellers can demonstrate clear performance outcomes, they gain greater buyer confidence and ultimately, greater investment in streaming TV.
Viewers: improving relevance and reducing friction
Viewers, often underrepresented in industry conversations, offer one of the strongest signals for how AI can create value.
The data shows viewers are overwhelmingly open to AI when it improves the ad experience, with 89% supporting its use to reduce repetition and minimize disruption, and 76% favoring more relevant ads.
AI can directly address longstanding frustrations with ad-supported streaming. By enabling smarter frequency management, better contextual alignment and more personalized creative, AI helps make advertising feel less intrusive and more aligned with the content experience.
There is also a significant perception gap when it comes to AI-generated creative. While many buyers and sellers assume viewers are skeptical, only 10% of viewers report disliking AI-driven ads. This disconnect highlights a missed opportunity and reinforces that, when AI enhances relevance and quality, viewers are receptive.
Aligning everyone’s demands
AI is already transforming how TV advertising operates, from campaign execution to inventory monetization to ad experiences. But its long-term success will depend on alignment across the ecosystem.
Buyers want greater efficiency without losing control. Sellers want better tools to price and monetize inventory. Viewers want more relevant, less disruptive ad experiences.
The key is working with a platform that enables partners to build differentiated AI capabilities that can address the needs of all three groups. When AI delivers measurable performance for buyers, greater yield for sellers and better experiences for viewers, it creates a reinforcing cycle that benefits the entire ecosystem.
The next phase of AI in TV advertising will not be defined by capability alone, but also by the technology’s ability to deliver against these expectations consistently, transparently and at scale.
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