Digital TV and Video

Roku’s mid-year finances reveal mixed signals. Active accounts are up, but the ongoing writers’ strike is causing advertising growth to stagnate.

Playground XYZ announced today that its Attention Intelligence Platform is now compatible with YouTube ads.

Netflix gained roughly 6 million subscribers this quarter, mostly thanks to anti-password sharing. But advertising remains only a tiny piece of the business.

Roku and Comcast-owned FreeWheel expanded their partnership in the name of data interoperability. For starters, Roku is tapping into FreeWheel’s supply-side platform to get a fuller view of its programmers’ inventory.

Roku announced two new ad formats to help brands get in front of both ad-free viewers in addition to people streaming with ads. The new formats are interactive, and will be shoppable where applicable later this year.

MadHive, the CTV ad buying platform, announced a $300 million investment from Goldman Sachs. Now, the company is turning its attention to measurement and attribution companies that might make lucrative acquisition targets.

YouTube creators like Smosh are embracing livestreaming to bring in bigger bucks with appointment viewing through brand sponsorships and ticket sales.

Connected TV may be online advertising’s go-to golden child – but buyers beware. CTV buys can be risky, says Chris Kane, founder of Jounce Media.

Streaming is arguably the TV industry’s most powerful growth engine, but it’s still far from a mature business. Which is why programmers took ad tech off the backburner during their upfront presentations this year.

Automation is also making its way onto TV advertising with a heavier focus on programmatic buying and better content recommendation algorithms.