CTV Roundup

BarBoards, an Austin-based startup that launched in February, is the latest DOOH tech platform hoping to win TV ad dollars by running ads on screens in restaurants and bars.

It’s never been more complicated to buy TV ads than it is today. As a result, TV advertisers are rethinking how they want to use programmatic platforms.

If the nonstop news coming out of Cannes Lions in France this week is making your head spin, this week’s newsletter dispatch will catch you up on how CTV is factoring into this year’s festival.

For a moment in time, agencies and brands upped their efforts to reach diverse audiences and spend on diverse-owned media. But that hype has since petered out, in part because brands lack the data to effectively target this audience.

The more new FAST channels there are, the harder it is for them to stand out to advertisers that have long perceived them as the bargain bin of streaming. One way to grab the attention of advertisers is to provide the data and transparency they’ve long been asking for from CTV partners.

While agencies push for more programmatic buying options, publishers want to maintain control in TV ad buying negotiations – and particularly over their “premium” content.

In addition to taking execs through its plans to launch its own ad platform, Netflix hosted a separate event open to the press to showcase its content as part of its efforts to stand out to advertisers.

Programmers are using their Q1 earnings reports as a dress rehearsal for their upfront pitches. Meanwhile, programmatic platforms, including Magnite and PubMatic, also had upfronts in mind during their Q1 earnings.

It’s been a busy week in CTV and streaming, with Google kicking off NewFronts, Paramount ousting its CEO and the IAB projecting social video will outpace CTV in 2024.

GSTV is trying to win a larger share of spend earmarked for TV. In GSTV’s case, it wants to reach a broad and captive audience – while they’re at the fuel pump.