The media landscape is changing quickly, as evidenced by today’s announcement of Verizon’s plans to purchase AOL Inc. For a look at where the media industry might be heading in the next 5 to ten years, we sat down with AOL CEO and Chairman Tim Armstrong earlier this year. With today’s news, we are republishing this interview
The Future of Media According to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong
Recent Videos
Marketing Intelligence Adds Value to Growth Partnerships: Nielsen’s Peter Naylor
PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. – Nielsen is pushing to broaden how the industry views the company, positioning itself not just as a ratings provider but as a full marketing intelligence partner, according to Peter Naylor, chief client officer at Nielsen. Speaking in an interview with Beet.TV at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, Naylor said his mandate […]
Index Exchange’s James Wilhite: Gracenote Integration Promises CTV Proof-of-Purchase
LAS VEGAS — Buyers can now verify connected TV purchases at the show level, seeing specific line items, CPMs, impressions, and total media spend rather than trusting that budgets allocated toward major television events actually reached intended inventory. “Before a couple of days ago, it was impossible for a buyer to know exactly what they […]
Dentsu X’s Maggie Summers: CTV Finally Hit Critical Mass for Performance Marketing
Connected TV advertising has reached a tipping point where impression volume, measurement capabilities, and targeting precision converge to create genuine performance marketing opportunities. “CTV’s finally hit that point of critical mass. So there’s enough impressions in the marketplace to really effectively reach consumers who are in that shopping mindset,” Maggie Summers, EVP and head of […]
Behavioral Data Holds Key to Unlocking CTV’s True Potential, EDO’s Weiss Says
LAS VEGAS – The quest for meaningful audience metrics in the CTV space continues to challenge advertisers and media companies alike. Could behavioral intent data hold the answer to proving advertising effectiveness? By analyzing real-world search behavior and website visits following ad exposure, companies can create actionable signals from the noise of digital interactions to […]
Amazon’s Charlotte Maines: Vast Authenticated Reach Brings Advertisers’ Storytelling From ‘Doorstep To Bedroom’
LAS VEGAS — Amazon’s nearly total reach — 90% of U.S. customers across authenticated devices — means that advertisers can tell personalized stories that follow consumers throughout their day, from users’ Fire TV’s in their living room to bedtime Alexa smart speaker podcasts. “If you think about it as an advertiser, [there are] so many […]
AI Now Underpins the Marketing Operating System: Nissan’s Allyson Witherspoon
PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. – Nissan Motor Corp.’s chief marketing officer and global brand advisor Allyson Witherspoon says artificial intelligence has moved from a side experiment to the backbone of the automaker’s marketing organization. AI as the foundation of planning, measurement and creative Speaking with Beet.TV at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, Witherspoon said AI now […]
Market Transparency, AI Reshape Ad Buying in Connected TV: Horizon Media’s Samantha Rose
LAS VEGAS – As viewers gain more control over what they watch and when they watch it, Horizon Media is reshaping how it plans for connected TV. Speaking with Beet.TV at CES 2026, strategic investment lead Samantha Rose said CTV can no longer be treated as a single bucket. Instead, Horizon plans across distinct subcategories, […]
Why CTV Is Becoming the Backbone of Healthcare Marketing: The Trade Desk’s Baron Harper
LAS VEGAS – Healthcare marketers are increasingly treating TV as the starting point for omnichannel strategy as connected TV adoption reaches critical mass and measurement improves, said Baron Harper, general manager of business development at The Trade Desk. Speaking with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at CES 2026, Harper said the industry is moving beyond simply […]
How to Succeed in Game Ads: ‘Respect the Game World’
LAS VEGAS – How do you reach an audience that’s actively engaged without becoming an unwelcome intruder? The answer, according to one media strategist, lies in understanding that gamers aren’t just consumers – they’re participants in carefully crafted worlds they care deeply about. “Brands can show up in gaming without disrupting the experience by leading […]
For In-Store Media, Relevance Is the New Scale
For years, in-store digital media has chased scale, adding more screens to more stores. However, this approach often overlooked the fundamental component required to turn a shopper’s glance into a purchase: relevance. Now, a more deliberate strategy is taking hold. Retailers are rethinking their in-store networks not as a collection of screens, but as an […]
Comcast’s Karen Babcock: AI Can Transform Ads From ‘Interruption’ to ‘Complement’ of Content
LAS VEGAS — Artificial intelligence can reshape advertising from disruptive interruption to emotional complement by matching ad tone to surrounding content, preventing jarring transitions that produce negative attention as opposed to the good kind. “Let’s say someone was watching Good Will Hunting. It’s the iconic scene where Ben Affleck’s in the bar in Boston; it’s […]
Open Web Needs Its Own AI Interface in Next Revenue Chapter: Taboola’s Adam Singolda
LAS VEGAS – Adam Singolda sees consumer behavior shifting faster than most media companies expected. Large language models such as ChatGPT are becoming a daily interface for information, he said, but the experience remains uneven across platforms. Some LLMs are ad free, others are ad-supported, while the open web sits largely outside those walled gardens. […]
Streaming Ad Market Matures as Programmatic, AI, Contextual Targeting Accelerate: FreeWheel’s Kathy Argyriou
The U.S. streaming advertising market reached a turning point in 2025 as a surge of ad-supported inventory reshaped pricing, buying strategies and definitions of premium television, says Kathy Argyriou, head of publisher sales at FreeWheel, a unit of Comcast. Speaking with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan, Argyriou said the rollout of ad-supported tiers from major streaming […]
CTV Emerges as Performance Channel Amid Shift to Lower-Funnel Ad Buying: Roku
LAS VEGAS – Roku is leaning into a message advertisers have long wanted to hear: connected TV can now drive measurable business outcomes, not just awareness. Speaking with Beet.TV Editorial Director Lisa Granatstein at CES 2026, Lauren Benedict, vice president of global ad sales and partnerships at Roku, said the company is seeing growing demand […]
Best Buy’s Derek Bodurka: Gaming’s Grip on Consumers’ Passion has Lessons for Brands
LAS VEGAS — Gaming purchases differ from typical consumer electronics transactions because they’re driven by passion and escape rather than necessity, creating emotional connections that retailers can leverage for brand partnerships. “A lot of consumer electronics is based on necessity. When we think about gaming, it’s all about the one,” Derek Bodurka, partner and category […]
Swoop’s Kurt Robinson: TV Must ‘Stay The Backbone’ as Pharma Embraces New Delivery Mechanisms
LAS VEGAS — Pharmaceutical advertising has been the backbone of TV ad strategies since the inception of the medium. But maintaining that central role requires embracing new delivery platforms including YouTube and connected TV as consumer viewing behavior shifts. “It’s about staying the backbone [of TV],” Kurt Robinson, evp, business development at Swoop, told Beet.TV […]
Why Agencies Should Never Fully Outsource Video Buying to AI
LAS VEGAS — The advertising industry is racing to automate video buying, but one agency executive is urging a more measured approach. Rather than handing over the keys to the machines, Mike Treon, head of CTV and video strategy at PMG, thinks the real opportunity lies in collapsing repetitive workflows while keeping humans firmly in […]
2026 Marks Turning Point for Unified, Self-Serve Retail Media: Criteo’s Sherry Smith
LAS VEGAS – The retail media sector is entering a pivotal year marked by consolidation, self-service tools and less fragmentation across retailers, said Sherry Smith, president of retail media at Criteo. Speaking with Beet.TV Editorial Director Lisa Granatstein at CES 2026, Smith argued that true growth in retail media networks (RMNs) will depend on brands’ […]
Custom Audiences will Take Center Stage at Beet Retreat San Juan: Alliant’s Margo Hock
LAS VEGAS – As the advertising industry debates how quickly agentic AI will move from theory to practice, Alliant says the shift is already tangible inside its business. Speaking with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at CES 2026, Margo Hock, vice president of digital partners, said Alliant’s acquisition of AnalyticsIQ is now entering a critical phase. […]
How In-Store Media Captures Intent at the Moment of Choice: Stratacache’s Chris Riegel
Retail stores are already crowded with visual cues, from packaging to printed signs. The challenge for brands is breaking through that noise without slowing shoppers down. Chris Riegel, founder and chief executive of Stratacache, frames the store as a stage where motion can guide attention and influence choice. “If you think of a retail space […]
Innovid’s Christopher Murphy: Creative and Media Are Still Too Siloed
LAS VEGAS — Creative and media teams frequently operate in isolation and optimize independently despite opportunities to integrate contextual signals across both functions for improved campaign performance. “Too often they’re in silos and optimize separately,” Christopher Murphy, svp, strategy and business development at Innovid, told Beet.TV Editorial Director Lisa Granatstein at CES. “The fidelity of […]





