NEW YORK — Most everyone loves to binge their favorite programs on CTV. But streaming services’ vast content libraries also create decision fatigue that has consumers often pining linear television’s simplicity. Such analog wishes may be the reason that live viewing represents approximately 70% of consumption even on platforms designed for on-demand access, according to Philo CEO Mike Keyserling.
“The beauty of ‘Peak TV’ and all of these tremendously huge scaled services is that there’s an insane amount of content to watch and that’s awesome. But there’s like a downside to that, which is the paradox of choice,” Keyserling told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at the Beet.TV/Horizon Media AI Media Summit. “You go into Netflix and how long do you spend trying to find something that you want to watch?”
This reality explains why consumers gravitate toward branded channels like Food Network or HGTV where they can simply watch programmed content without decision-making pressure.
Efficiency enables David-versus-Goliath competition
Philo generates nearly half a billion dollars in revenue with just 160 employees by embedding AI across software development, subscriber acquisition, monetization, and operations rather than competing through scale alone.
“Philo as being a small company in a sea of the largest media companies in the world has always had to operate differently. We’ve always had to lean into efficiency, lean into technology, and AI is no different,” Keyserling said.
Applications include internal engineering tools for faster code development, ROAS modeling for efficient marketing spend, agentic-ready ad tech infrastructure, and wide listening tools for support and social monitoring.
Hybrid model serves different viewing behaviors
Philo accommodates both passive linear viewers who prefer branded channel experiences and active on-demand consumers seeking specific premium content like Yellowstone’s Dutton Ranch episodes.
“There’s a lot of people that just love brands and they want to be able to turn on Food Network or HGTV and just watch what is on those channels and not have to think about what specific show they want to watch,” Keyserling said.
Understanding audience behavior patterns enables tailored experiences for different viewer intentions and consumption preferences.
AI transforms ad stack through subscriber insights
Artificial intelligence applications begin with privacy-compliant subscriber understanding that informs behavioral analysis, contextual signal identification, and rapid product development including programmatic pause ads.
“We are on the leading edge of programmatic pause ads. I think we’re one of the first companies to do that at scale,” Keyserling said. “That was a very quick conception to production. One of the quickest that we’ve had in our company, and that’s generated a whole new line of revenue.”
AI also enables ad portfolio analysis for improved frequency capping and subscriber experience optimization, treating advertisements as additional platform content requiring positive user experiences.
“We look at the ads as just additional content on our platform and we want that to be a really positive experience for subscribers,” Keyserling said.
You’re watching coverage from The AI Media Summit, A Beet.TV & Horizon Media Collaboration, presented by Seedtag & The Trade Desk. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
