programmatic CTV

America’s Test Kitchen introduced direct and programmatic buying for its free ad-supported TV channels – marking the first time it’s selling ad inventory as a standalone package.

NBCU used this year’s Olympic Winter Games to lean further into programmatic buying for live sports at scale. NBCU also made Olympics inventory available through Comcast’s Universal Ads self-serve platform for the first time and used AI for creative review and campaign optimization in near real time.

Upstream, a supply-side company that until today was called TheViewPoint, introduced a platform that automates direct TV and streaming ad sales. The platform launch and company rebrand strive to highlight the role of TV and streaming as an upper-funnel awareness channel.

The generative AI trend generated endless hot takes this year, but the ad industry also had plenty to say about growing competition between DSPs and SSPs. Here are AdExchanger’s top 10 most popular guest columns of 2025 and why they resonated.

Brands don’t feel secure enough to lock in huge CTV deals outside of live sports. So what happens to all of that nonsports content spread out across streaming channels?

Television advertising has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years, with connected TV (CTV) emerging as a powerful channel for marketers seeking the impact of traditional television with the precision of digital targeting.

For all intents and purposes, 2024 is already over. Which means now is a fine time to see how far CTV advertising has come by looking back at some of this year’s most-read stories on AdExchanger.

A significant amount of the ad inventory distributed to CTV audiences is actually sold via linear. This is especially prevalent with FAST networks, which currently account for 20%-25% of ad-supported streaming.

Although the full revenue impact of Magnite’s exclusive SSP partnership with Netflix hasn’t hit yet, simply announcing the deal “created significant momentum for our business,” Magnite President and CEO Michael Barrett told investors.

It’s never been more complicated to buy TV ads than it is today. As a result, TV advertisers are rethinking how they want to use programmatic platforms.

Equativ (formerly known as Smart AdServer) announced its acquisition of Sharethrough, an SSP with a specialty in native advertising.

PubMatic has its supply-path optimization initiative, its strategy to introduce direct deals for CTV and online video, to thank for its quarterly revenue growth.

AdExchanger will lift the hood on the hottest topics in CTV live onstage at the inaugural CTV Connect event in New York City on March 13 and March 14.

Total ad spend from deals transacted through Magnite’s platform topped $5 billion for the full year, representing nearly 20% YOY growth, while full-year CTV ad spend was also up 20%.

Since advertisers now treat connected TV more like a digital performance channel, expect programmatic CTV demand to keep ramping up – including in the open exchange.

23andMe’s holiday campaign is its first real foray into CTV, which the company plans to make a key channel in its post-cookie marketing mix.

CTV contributed $52.5 million to Magnite’s Q3 earnings, actually declining 6% from $56 million at the same time last year. CTV comprised 39% of overall revenue this quarter, compared to 41% for mobile ads and 20% for desktop ads.

Disney is celebrating the first birthday of ad-supported Disney+ with a new slate of targeting and measurement options for advertisers.

Magnite’s still enamored of CTV. CTV’s contribution to Magnite’s revenue was up 8% YOY, from $52 million to $56 million.

Magnite and FreeWheel announced a technical integration to allow publishers that use FreeWheel’s ad server to see demand for inventory within Magnite’s SSP.

INSP is an example of a TV network that’s more comfortable with linear because it has an older audience. But that doesn’t mean streaming is off the table.

TV publishers and brands are paying extra careful attention to what their adversaries are up to. And one opportunity to get data about competitors comes with programmatic integrations.

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.

Roku’s platform business – which includes ad sales and streaming content distribution – is down this quarter. The company is widening its programmatic net to snag more ad dollars.

TV advertising is undergoing a tectonic shift from programmed to programmatic. Not unlike on the open web – but unlike on linear – advertisers can use programmatic to get scale across connected TV. There’s demand for biddable CTV because buyers realize they can get more flexibility and transparent signals from publishers.

Television has long been one of the most transparent advertising channels. Likewise, programmatic advertising has always offered buyers incredible detail about the audience and context of their ads. Now, advertisers are rightfully frustrated that they have so little transparency into where their ads run when buying television programmatically.

Like it did for the web, programmatic is transforming linear TV ad buying. But TV calls for a more nuanced approach. The programmatic technology that automates ad serving on TV will have to be different from the rest of the digital ad ecosystem, said Pooja Midha, EVP of Effectv, the ad sales division of Comcast Cable.

Transparency is the keystone that will bring together the best of linear advertising with the best of programmatic. Brands should be able to get more transparency on programmatic CTV, but, just as importantly, publishers should get something in return for sharing this information, writes Nicole Scaglione, global VP of OTT and CTV at PubMatic.

Advertisers new to CTV often approach streaming buys the same way they approach linear: By focusing on large-scale inventory from only the biggest providers instead of focusing on their audience. This strategy tends to overlook the unique advantages CTV offers, writes Marrika Zapiler, director of advanced TV at Marketing Architects.

Netflix is planning to introduce an ad-supported model to attract new viewers, and chances are it will embrace programmatic advertising, too. Without the portfolio of strategic partners that NBC and Disney have, Netflix will need to catch up somehow. Programmatic is one enticing option for doing so, writes Nicole Scaglione, global VP, OTT and CTV business, at PubMatic.