CTV

TV programmers and streamers are sharing their financial report cards for last quarter – and the results are quite a mixed bag.

Enjoy this weekly comic strip from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

Warner Bros. Discovery’s overall ad revenue dropped 7% last year. Its survival depends on its streaming service, Max, its lifeline in the intensifying streaming wars.

In her last week at AdExchanger, Senior Editor Alyssa Boyle reflects on three years of change, and stasis, in the CTV space. Then, how Ozempic is changing the marketing world.

Amazon is still lowering its Prime Video ad rates across the board. Plus, there are disadvantages to being a big tech giant.

Streaming TV advertisers are still unsatisfied with the level of transparency from publishers in the ad buying process. So Rain the Growth Agency created its own way to get more transparency into CTV buys.

Launching a TV channel typically starts with zeroing in on a specific target audience or a genre. Figuring out how to sell ads comes later – you know, once there’s inventory to pitch. But for Creator TV, things happened the other way around.

Since Connatix and JW Player first announced their merger in October, JWP Connatix – a temporary name for the newly joined companies – says things are going well at the six-month mark.

Like most brands advertising during the Super Bowl this year, Cetaphil tried to capture attention with a celebrity-focused commercial.

Roku reported $4.1 billion in revenue for 2024, an 18% jump year over year. Its platform business in particular, which includes ad sales and streaming distribution, reached $3.5 billion last year, also an 18% jump compared to 2023 (or 15% excluding political ad revenue).

Making TripleLift stand out among the pack is one of Helmreich’s top priorities, as is ensuring supply chain health. And, he said, the company has no plans to shy away from its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

US judge rules generative AI has no fair use claim; Snap sets its sights on SMBs; MMM comes to CTV; and Disney introduces ads in live TV, even for paid users.

This year’s Super Bowl commercials relied on comic relief and highlighted noncontroversial topics, like streaming and entertainment. But a couple of commercials in the lineup still managed to stir some controversy.

Netflix’s programmatic platform is a tough sell in Europe. Plus, awkward euphemisms makes marketing for sports gambling a problem. 

Hyundai’s latest campaign, titled “The Road,” debuted during the NFL AFC and NFC championship game on January 26, the weekend before the Super Bowl.

To attract advertisers, Bloomberg is pitching them on not just reach but contextual relevance. That rationale inspired the company’s latest contextual ad product, AdService, which it launched in January.

The Google Chrome team is getting closer to deciding on its cookie consent mechanism. And  Paramount resolves its four-month standoff with Nielsen, as the mechanics behind currency change forever.

This weekend, the rewards app Fetch is debuting its very first Super Bowl ad, which includes a live giveaway of $1.2 million.

AdExchanger reached out to a number of major DSPs to gauge the current state of adoption of the IAB Tech Lab’s new video ad standard.

Disney’s revenue rose 5% to $24.7 billion last quarter, up from $23.5 billion this time last year. But subscriber growth at The Mouse House looks less promising.

Ad buyers agree that Nielsen’s decision to pivot from panel-only ratings is a step in the right direction for TV ad measurement. But some also suggest it may be too late for Nielsen to recover the ground it ceded to competitors.

There are a lot more self-serve CTV buying options out there than there used to be, but that doesn’t mean managed service providers are going away.

Nielsen told ad buyers that it plans to drop panel-only ratings later this year. The decision signals an inflection point in media measurement that publishers and buyers have both been waiting for.

Criteo’s Brian Gleason shared how it is working with agencies to capitalize on curation and measurement opportunities in retail media and CTV.

NBCUniversal and Instacart team up to help brands use Instacart data to plan and measure audiences for NBCU campaigns.

Google’s open-source MMM product goes live; Amazon Prime Video’s ad biz turns one; and teens don’t trust Big Tech and have doubts about AI.

This year, expect ad tech consolidation to center on the biggest growth opportunities in advertising: retail media, connected TV and addressing the gaps in measurement.

The IAB predicts what privacy laws might be passed by the new congress; AI-generated newsletters are competing with local news; and the IAB Tech Lab ramps up production of new OpenRTB specs.

Jeff Green, CEO of The Trade Desk, calls it like he sees it. And he doesn’t see a future for Google monetizing the open internet via its SSP and ad server business.

Some buyers are vocalizing their frustrations that the lack of transparency in CTV ad buying could impact the channel’s growth trajectory.