LONDON — Advertisers want it all. They crave the mass audience reach that television has always delivered, but they also demand the precise targeting capabilities that digital advertising has trained them to expect. So, as connected TV matures into a dominant force in the media landscape, the industry is racing to satisfy both appetites simultaneously.
CTV ad supply is now expanding rapidly, with streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Paramount all opening their platforms to advertising. The challenge lies in building measurement systems and programmatic infrastructure sophisticated enough to unlock CTV’s full potential.
“Clients are really, really keen to get involved,” said Steve Bignell, Global Head of PMX LIFT at Publicis Media, in this video interview with Beet.TV at the Future of TV Advertising Global conference.
For brands contemplating their 2026 strategies, Bignell offered straightforward advice: get involved now. “This is a really, really important area of growth,” he said. “It’s the way that the TV market is going to evolve over the coming years. It’s really important to get involved now, to test it, to make sure you know how to make the most of it as it develops.”
The dual mandate from brands
The tension between reach and targeting has marked out CTV’s emergence for some time. Linear television built its empire on delivering massive audiences to advertisers, but the streaming era has introduced expectations shaped by years of digital marketing precision.
“Our advertisers want both,” Bignell said. “They want the ability to reach large audiences, but they also want to apply some of the advanced advertising and targeting capabilities that we see in digital coming into their CTV activity.”
This dual mandate is driving investment in the space. U.S. CTV ad spending was projected to reach $26.92 billion in 2025, according to eMarketer, more than doubling from $2.80 billion in 2020.
Measurement remains the sticking point
Despite the enthusiasm, hurdles remain. Chief among them is the gap between legacy measurement approaches and the demands of a digital-first advertising environment.
“Measurement is still a challenge,” Bignell acknowledged. “We’re working on that really hard with the vendors and with independent providers as well, trying to close that gap between basically panel-based legacy measurement and more modern digital audience measurement.”
The industry’s reliance on traditional panel-based metrics creates friction in an ecosystem that promises granular, real-time insights. Bridging this divide will be essential for CTV to fulfill its promise of combining television’s brand-building power with digital’s accountability.
Making vendors comfortable
As programmatic capabilities expand into premium television environments, the industry must address concerns from content owners about how their inventory will be treated.
“I think the biggest issue really is about making vendors feel comfortable that their inventory will be respected and priced appropriately,” Bignell said.
The challenge involves balancing the efficiency of programmatic buying with the premium positioning that broadcasters and streamers expect for their content.
You’re watching coverage from The Future of TV Advertising Global 2025. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
