Netflix, Disney and more talk opportunities and challenges for programmatic CTV
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The streaming gold rush is here.
That’s how Lindsay Teague, senior vice president of omnichannel sales at Cadent, described the phenomenon during AdExchanger’s Programmatic I/O conference in New York this week.
Viewers and advertisers alike are feeling the rush. IAB projects CTV ad spend to grow more than 11% this year compared to 2024, while 45% of ad-supported TV viewing in the U.S. is on streaming, according to Nielsen.
But the market is more crowded than ever, with platforms vying for ad dollars and consumer attention.
“Fragmentation is very real for a lot of our brands,” said Liane Nadeau, chief investment officer at Digitas, during a panel on Monday. “How do they manage all of these dollars not only going to the networks but also the CTV providers, and how do I make sure that I’m reaching the right people?”
“The challenge of fragmentation is potentially limiting CTV’s full potential,” Teague said, echoing that same sentiment from the stage during a session on Tuesday.
Teague offered three priorities that advertisers should focus on to combat fragmentation:
- Transparency and brand safety through trusted partners
- Identity resolution that can be tied to an omnichannel strategy
- Outcomes-based measurement that goes beyond views
The event also highlighted perspectives from streaming providers like Netflix and Disney on the challenges and promises of CTV.
“TV always had tremendous buying power and tremendous content, and digital brought better targeting, better measurement, better data,” said Nicolle Pangis, Netflix’s vice president of advertising, during the panel with Nadeau. “CTV brings those two worlds together in a unique way. It gives you a lot of tools in your tool set.”
Making CTV distinct from linear
For the likes of Netflix and Disney, the embrace of programmatic CTV has been fast and furious — and it’s reshaping the upfronts. According to Jamie Power, senior vice president of addressable sales at Disney, 70% of biddable transactions this year were tied to an upfront commitment.
“When you look at live and sports — and the ability to insert biddably in those environments and the accelerated pace at which we did it — has been incredible to see,” she said during the panel with Digitas’ Nadeau and Netflix’s Pangis.
Power added that livestreaming is what has really brought the promise of CTV to fruition.
“We’re now able to share a signal in the bidstream that lets the buyer know something is a live moment or an attention-grabbing moment,” Power said.
Power and Pangis both stressed that programmatic CTV presents its own distinct opportunity from linear TV. For Pangis, that means new, interactive ad formats, perhaps like those found at NewFronts.
“TV can look a lot different in a digital-first world than it has historically,” Pangis said. “There’s no need to bring linear buying strategies into CTV. There’s so much more that we can do moving forward as an industry.”
Nadeau cautioned that interactive ad formats should be designed with the consumer at the center of the conversation.
“The excitement and enthusiasm is there for new formats, but it starts with the strategy of what you’re trying to get the consumer to engage with,” she said. “Do you want to encourage choice? Do you want to create the moment for someone to make a purchase?”