TV should work for everyone, not just Big Tech

You bought the television. You installed it in your living room. You pay for multiple streaming services. But from the moment you pick up your remote, the viewing experience slips out of your hands. Today’s TVs are controlled by tech giants whose operating systems prioritize their own content and ads, reshaping what you see and when. The television industry, and its viewers, need a better way.

Television is at an inflection point. Over the past five years, media companies have aggressively embraced direct-to-consumer streaming, seeking to build deeper viewer relationships and guard against Big Tech disruption. Ironically, the very operating systems they’ve chosen for this transition are owned by the disruptors they sought to avoid. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Many of today’s television operating systems (TV OS) are controlled by tech giants who treat transparency as a nuisance rather than an obligation. From their privileged positions, these companies can tilt the playing field in their favor, which undermines media companies, TV manufacturers, advertisers and retailers alike. It’s a familiar story of platform dominance: Microsoft mastered it on desktop computers, Apple and Google conquered mobile and now your living room is their battleground. The television ecosystem — creators, viewers, publishers, advertisers — needs an objective TV OS aligned with its success, not its exploitation.

Everyone is losing, except Big Tech

Consider the industry’s current reality: Television manufacturers and retailers grapple with razor-thin TV margins, forcing them to seek additional revenue through ads and content. They face an unenviable choice: either build costly new complex internal capabilities and teams or outsource their customer relationships and futures to Silicon Valley’s tech giants in exchange for a free OS and maybe a one-time bounty payment. Neither option ensures a sustainable future. Manufacturers and retailers need a third path.

Publishers face a similarly precarious situation. Despite bold shifts toward audience-first streaming and programmatic advertising models, they find themselves perpetually dependent on the fleeting goodwill of Big Tech. Today’s TV OS landscape inherently favors tech incumbents, ensuring publishers’ own content inevitably ranks second to platform-owned services such as YouTube and Prime Video. Publishers need a TV OS partner who will celebrate their shows, movies, news and sports, not compete with them.

Viewers suffer collateral damage too. Investing hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy a new television feels increasingly absurd as these screens bombard us with irrelevant ads and baffling content recommendations. Ownership feels like an illusion. Your expensive television feels more like someone else’s advertising billboard. It’s time for users to truly own their televisions again.

Adding insult to injury, these Big Tech giants aren’t even fully committed to their TV OS products. It’s merely a side hustle, secondary to their main ventures like content apps, commerce or AI moon shots. Already, there’s decreased investment and lukewarm commitments, signaling a troubling future where some will exit the TV OS market altogether. Which would leave countless media industry players and viewers stranded — and fooled again.

A better future is possible

A successful and fair TV OS, however, doesn’t have to be charity. It needs aligned incentives for objectivity and transparency. Enter Ventura.

Our vision isn’t altruism. It’s about creating a strategic alignment of interests. Our business model is straightforward: empower advertisers and publishers via a truly fair ad auction. Transparency enhances the entire advertising ecosystem. We only succeed after our ad clients and publisher partners succeed. This distinguishes us fundamentally from the conflicted business models currently dominating the market.

The success of the Ventura TV OS won’t come at the expense of its partners. By championing openness, Ventura creates more value across the ecosystem.

• Manufacturers secure sustainable and predictable ad and content revenue streams.
• Retailers retain complete control over customer relationships and support their ad business at levels comparable to having their own in-house TV OS.
• Publishers fully control their inventory to unlock maximum value from their creative investments, fueling more investment in exceptional shows, films, news and sports.
• Advertisers gain superior ad placement and pricing transparency.
• Viewers finally receive something worthy of their investment: a television experience truly focused on their preferences and interests.

And the numbers are clear: 67.5 million U.S. households now use smart TVs, making them the most popular connected TV device. Even a small shift toward transparency represents billions of dollars redirected into content, advertising efficiency and consumer value.

Ventura’s mission goes beyond creating a superior product. We’re committed to fundamentally redefining streaming into the fairest, most transparent and effective advertising ecosystem television has ever known. We prioritize fairness because our incentives directly align with the interests of advertisers, publishers, manufacturers and viewers.

This moment demands bold innovation, clear purpose and the courage to challenge entrenched interests and drive a new revolution. The opportunity ahead isn’t simply about correcting past missteps; it’s about setting a new, higher standard for the future. With Ventura, television isn’t merely back in business, it’s finally ready to serve everyone.

This op-ed represents the views and opinions of the author and not of The Current, a division of The Trade Desk, or The Trade Desk. The appearance of the op-ed on The Current does not constitute an endorsement by The Current or The Trade Desk.