In this ever-fragmented media landscape, advertisers are forced to visit numerous destinations to find audience segments, while integrated ecosystems provide unified access that functions like an “easy button for connected TV.”
“Fragmentation makes buying audiences hard. You have to go to a bunch of different places to find a little piece of the audience that you’re looking for,” Marcien Jenckes, president of Charter Communications-Comcast streaming joint venture Xumo, told Beet.TV at the IAB NewFronts. “The reality is that an advertiser wants to connect with an audience no matter where they are. It doesn’t matter what screen, it doesn’t matter what app.”
Xumo’s integrated approach enables advertisers to reach consumers across platforms through unified buying rather than separate transactions for each environment.
Three-pronged content strategy
Xumo operates through direct-to-consumer streaming via Xumo Play, next-generation streaming device distribution across cable companies and consumer electronics, and powering over 2,000 channels streaming across 30 global platforms.
“Everything that we’re trying to do is engage consumers with content that they love and build audiences that then we monetize through advertising,” Jenckes said. “What I think is special about us is because we do it in all of those different ways, we aggregate significant audiences.”
This approach generates over 60 million monthly active users engaging with high-quality content monetized through advertising, Jenckes said.
Home screen engagement moments
Controlling the home screen experience balances helping consumers reach desired content quickly while facilitating discovery when viewing intentions remain unclear, creating valuable advertising opportunities.
“We’re trying to get them to where they want to go as quickly and efficiently as possible. And then also when they don’t know where they want to go, help them with the discovery process,” Jenckes said.
This creates scale, usage volume, and engagement levels that enable advertisers to associate brands with meaningful experiences while driving actionable impact.
2026 priorities: personalization to AI
Xumo’s 2026 investments focus on three areas: enhanced identity platform development for personalized advertising and experiences, subscription management tools to help consumers understand and optimize their content subscriptions, and artificial intelligence implementation to optimize user flows for seamless viewing experiences.
“We’re investing a lot in our identity platform to deliver more personalized advertising and experiences to consumers,” Jenckes said. “A lot of consumers don’t even know what they’re subscribed to from a content perspective. And so we’re doing a lot of work in subscription management.”
The AI integration aims to make viewing experiences as efficient and seamless as possible through optimized user flow design.
“We’re using a lot of artificial intelligence in order to optimize the experience and the user flows to make their viewing experiences seamless and efficient as possible,” Jenckes said.
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