LAS VEGAS – Advertisers sounded a familiar concern at CES 2026: They still struggle to measure television and video spending across platforms in one unified view.
That challenge has persisted for years, Julie Van Ullen, president, CRO of iSpot, said in this interview with Lisa Granatstein, editorial director of Beet.TV. The biggest gap has been measurement inside “walled gardens.”
“The lack of ability to unify television and video buys across social video, streaming and linear has been the biggest challenge,” Van Ullen said. She added that iSpot has long translated linear TV into streaming with strong reach and outcomes data.
But social platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat remained an outlier.
Walled gardens move toward unification
That is now changing, Van Ullen said. She framed 2026 as a turning point for the industry.
“2026 is the solution for that, quite frankly,” she said. “iSpot and the industry have really moved those walled gardens to understand the criticality of unification.”
She said platforms increasingly recognize the need to unify audience and outcome data within third-party measurement systems. That shift allows marketers to evaluate spending “across all” video environments.
Creative, audience and outcomes are inseparable
Asked which metric matters most today, Van Ullen rejected the premise. Creative, audience, and outcomes are interdependent, she said.
“There is not one because they are so symbiotic,” she said. She described outcomes as the industry’s buzzword at CES this year.
But outcomes do not appear by themselves.
“Outcomes come out of well-executed creative that is targeted to the right audiences,” Van Ullen said.
Her shorthand formula was simple: “Creative plus audience equals outcome.”
The real breakthrough comes when that cycle operates programmatically. Marketers can then react in real time to what works and shift media accordingly.
AI turns data into action
Van Ullen sees AI as foundational to that shift. Its primary value, she said, is making massive datasets usable.
“AI represents a democratization of very large and complex data sets, full stop,” she said.
On the creative side, iSpot has collected more than a decade of performance data. That includes casting, locations, products, and demographic response.
Without AI, much of that insight would be inaccessible. With it, marketers can ask plain-language questions and get clear answers.
“For my industry, what has worked for this demo in terms of purchase intent?” she said, offering an example.
She said AI can now generate creative briefs tied directly to historical outcomes. On the media side, AI removes friction from analysis. Instead of dashboards and pivot tables, marketers can focus on intent.
“What are you trying to understand about the performance of your campaign?” she said. From there, systems can translate insights directly into execution.
Moving beyond GRPs
Van Ullen was blunt about legacy metrics. She described gross ratings points, or GRPs, as useful but outdated.
“GRPs were created to tell a marketer whether or not they got what they purchased,” she said. “That feels antiquated to me.”
Modern measurement should answer a different question. Did the media actually work?
At CES, iSpot announced a new partnership with Roku to demonstrate that shift. The collaboration allows campaigns to adjust in real time based on reach and outcome signals.
Those outcomes can span the funnel, she said. They range from brand lift to direct purchases.
“That sort of real-time enablement of measurement is what I mean,” Van Ullen said. “Measurement now is a revenue driver.”
You’re watching Beet.TV coverage from CES 2026. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
