The shift to programmatic buying in connected TV advertising is happening faster than many industry forecasts predicted.
With programmatic transactions now dominating the CTV landscape, media owners are being advised to develop sophisticated yield strategies that unify their approach across screens while leveraging artificial intelligence to maximize revenue from every impression.
“Publishers really need to ensure that they have the right tech in place and the right monetization strategy in order to leverage this massive opportunity,” said Ruth Manielevitch, head of strategic partnerships at EX.CO, in this video interview with Beet.TV.
Programmatic acceleration driving publisher tech needs
According to Manielevitch, the acceleration toward programmatic in CTV has outpaced expectations. “According to IAB, around 85% of US CTV ad buys were purchased programmatically in 2025, which is sooner than expected,” she noted.
Recent eMarketer forecasts project that programmatic methods will account for 92.1% of digital display ad spend and 89.4% of video ad spend in the US by 2025, underscoring the industry’s accelerating adoption of automated buying.
For publishers, this means ad server capabilities and yield optimization tools that were once nice-to-have features are now becoming essential infrastructure components. The publishers winning in this environment are those who can unify their web, mobile, and CTV inventory to create consistent audience experiences across all platforms.
Unified data strategy across screens
“The key here is to look at every impression, whether it’s web, mobile, or TV as part of one connected yield strategy,” she said.
“For media owners, that starts with having a unified data layer across all inventory, so you can really understand where the value lies and make smarter decisions in real time.”
This approach addresses a fundamental shift in how publishers need to think about their inventory, she said – rather than treating CTV as a separate silo, successful publishers are creating unified data strategies that recognize the interconnected nature of audience engagement across screens.
AI driving real-time optimization
At the core of modern CTV monetization strategies is the application of artificial intelligence to drive yield optimization decisions in real time.
EX․CO, formerly known as Playbuzz, is the smarter video technology built to maximize revenue across every screen—web, mobile, CTV, and DOOH. Trusted by leading media groups worldwide, including Advance Local, Hearst Newspapers, Motorsport Network, The Arena Group, and Ziff Davis, EX.CO delivers industry-leading monetization through its online video platform and machine-learning yield engine.
“Our ad server gives publishers both control and intelligence with models that make billions of predictions per day and trying different types of machine learning to maximize the value of every ad request,” Manielevitch said. “While many are only now adding AI to their story, EX.CO has been doing it from day one.”
The company recently published a case study with Play.Works, a publisher with over 400 AVOD and gaming apps plus FAST channels across platforms like Roku, Samsung, and LG. After implementing EX.CO’s AI-powered yield engine, Play.Works saw a 33% revenue increase within the first month.
Future of CTV monetization
Manielevitch believes the integration of AI will transform publishers’ approach to monetization from reactive to predictive.
“What’s exciting me the most is how AI will help publishers become more predictive rather than reactive, understanding when, where, and how to serve the right ad at the right time across every screen,” she said.
This predictive capability will become increasingly important as US CTV ad spending grows from $25.09 billion in 2023 to a projected $40.90 billion by 2027, reflecting a 63% increase over this period according to eMarketer.
“I also believe CTV will become more interactive and measurable, closing the loop between content, commerce, and engagement,” Manielevitch added. “The future of CTV isn’t just about bigger screens, it’s about smarter, data-driven storytelling.”
