ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—As Advertising Week 2025 gets underway, Dish Media has released research that argues advertisers are missing millions of consumers by underutilizing addressable TV in their media strategies.

The study, which was done in partnership with Janus Strategy & Insights, concluded that reallocating a portion of media budgets toward addressable TV advertising dramatically improves campaign efficiency, reach, and return on advertising spend.

More specifically the "The Perfect Match: Addressable TV For Maximized Reach and Revenue” study found that while 243 million, or 94% of all adults in the U.S. are reachable by some form of television targeting, 13% of them, or 31.6 million people, can only be effectively reached by addressable TV. Those consumers have a buying power of nearly $4 trillion, the researchers said.

"This study clearly proves the impact and power of incorporating deterministic addressable TV into media plans to earn additional revenue gains," said Tom Fochetta, senior vice president at dish media. "With Dish and Sling TV, we're able to deliver deterministic insights that power effective targeting and measurement solutions. This is where outcome-based planning becomes reality and addressable TV becomes a foundational part of every advertiser's strategy."

The study also found that while advertisers increasingly chase streaming viewers, they are leaving valuable audiences – and their dollars – on the table. According to the study, one major opportunity for advertisers lies in effectively reaching light TV viewers. This segment of the population is often missed by streaming and traditional TV advertising, creating a major opportunity to engage a cohort that drives significant revenue including 48% of the $90 billion children's apparel market, 45% of the $59 billion video game market, and 47% of the $25 billion luxury apparel market.

The study also highlights the advantage addressable TV provides in delivering accurate audience matching. Most streaming platforms rely on probabilistic signals like IP matching, which erode over time and reduce campaign accuracy. In contrast, deterministic addressable TV uses subscriber-verified data to deliver consistent match quality and sustained performance. In a cited example, addressable TV achieved 89% accuracy at 90 days into the campaign, nearly 4x higher than typical IP-based solutions.

The researcher also noted that reallocating just 10% of a campaign budget to addressable TV delivers double-digit gains in light TV viewer reach and improves in-target accuracy across the board.

"Whether an advertiser is shifting dollars from traditional TV or streaming, addressable TV delivered consistent, measurable impact," said Howard Shimmel, president of Janus Strategy & Insights, that produced the study for Dish. "This proves that addressable TV is no longer an add-on, it's a crucial and smarter allocation strategy with immediate business returns."

Janus Strategy ran an exercise with different budgets, and findings held true across the various budget sizes ranging from $500,000 to $10 million, and penetration levels ranging from 15% to 25% targets.

In a representative scenario modeling, at a $5 million budget and 15% penetration, shifting 10% of the budget or $500,000 dollars from either streaming or traditional TV to addressable TV drove reach lifts on average of 38% among light TV viewers and 18% among in-target consumers. These gains translated into a projected $102 million in incremental revenue across major consumer categories.

The full findings will be showcased at Advertising Week New York 2025 during a panel titled "The Perfect Match: Addressable TV For Maximized Reach and Revenue" on the Trends and Insights Stage on Thursday, October 9 at 11:10 a.m. ET and available to Dish Media clients as a white paper. Learn more at media.dish.com.

LONDON—The global addressable TV sector is set to continue its rapid growth with the $56 billion 2023 global spend set to rise by more than 50% to $87 billion by 2027, according to a new report on the addressable TV market published today by Ampere Analysis in partnership with GroupM Nexus’s addressable TV solution Finecast and Microsoft Advertising.

The report, which was informed by over 100 interviews with advertisers, streamers and agencies, also highlighted a number of emerging technologies, such as connected autos and generative AI, that could spur growth. 

Even so, the researchers cautioned that the rapidly growing sector still faces a number of major challenges that could slow growth. 

Richard Broughton, executive director at Ampere Analysis, explained that “[t]he extent to which addressable TV advertising is now being used by non-traditional TV advertisers, including smaller companies and B2B brands, is illustrative of how the medium can support TV service providers in their push to reach beyond traditional broadcast TV budgets and to open entirely new revenue streams. But it’s clear that there is still work to be done by the industry in challenging entrenched opinions and in countering common misconceptions.”

Key takeaways from the analysis included: 

• An average of a sixth of advertisers’ video advertising budgets are currently being spent with addressable TV service providers. This is as high as a fifth in mature markets like the US, with all major industry categories represented among addressable TV advertisers.
• Both B2B and B2C marketers are using addressable TV to support performance marketing and brand-building objectives, targeting specific audience segments or geographies.
• Brands are using addressable TV to extend campaign reach beyond broadcast TV. This is key in younger groups for whom the aggregate reach of addressable TV services provides a nearly 25% incremental reach boost over total monthly broadcast TV reach in developed markets.
• While both small and large brands are using addressable TV, smaller advertisers devote less of their marketing budget to addressable TV. Addressable TV service providers need to work to remove non-cost barriers to using the technology, simplifying the purchase and planning process to support uptake.
• Addressable TV typically commands higher pricing, which is attractive for service providers, but there are also incentives for service providers to deploy addressable TV to support viewer satisfaction and retention. Viewers who believe their TV service offers relevant advertising rate their streaming service higher in terms of user satisfaction – with an average Net Promoter Score 16 points higher than those viewers who don’t feel they are receiving relevant commercials. 

“The exponential expansion of the addressable TV advertising market serves as a clear indicator of the immense prospects awaiting service providers and brands,” explained Kristian Claxton, managing partner, innovation and strategy at Finecast. “This research illustrates the inherent potential of addressable TV as a powerful tool for targeted communication with previously hard-to-reach audience segments. The seamless integration of such capabilities with the storytelling possibilities and brand protection mechanisms inherent in broadcast TV is well demonstrated,” 

Despite the rapid growth of the addressable TV market, the researchers said that interviews conducted for the study revealed an array of attitudes and opinions that could hold back future growth if not countered by the industry.

One problem is that in emerging markets, there was a lack of clarity about the capabilities of addressable TV. Some brands were unaware of the targeting capabilities of addressable TV platforms in their region, leading them to spend with alternative media.

Even in developed markets, where addressable TV technologies are more mature, some marketers were not aware of the reach of addressable TV services, believing it to still be limited compared to broadcast media, the researchers noted. 

The report also found that among those advertisers not yet purchasing addressable TV there was a widespread perception that addressable TV services were expensive. This contrasts the belief of brands already purchasing via addressable who felt that addressable TV was just as cost-effective as other formats, the study found. 

The report forecasts that as case studies filter through to the wider market, those advertisers who are still wary of the technology will begin their addressable TV journey, contributing to the sector growing to an $87 billion industry by 2027.

The research also highlights emerging technologies and screens that will support future addressable campaigns.

Interviews revealed that connected cars have already debuted as an addressable TV channel in some markets, with some brands taking advantage of geotargeting opportunities to reach passengers with messaging. And some agencies and brands were thinking about how targeted QR code-based formats support a level of follow-through and sales attribution, the researchers 

The report also suggests that new technologies such as generative AI may begin to support the creative process in the next few years, helping to address the practical challenges associated with developing the multiple creatives required for dynamic or addressable creative campaigns.

“Addressable creatives already allow media buyers to adapt messaging by audience group and in response to events, keeping commercial messages fresh and relevant,” explained Dave Osborn, general manager, sales at Microsoft Advertising. “However, many of the most exciting developments in the addressable TV market have yet to be fully explored by brands. As many advertisers now see addressable TV as a core part of their media mix, their focus will shift to take full advantage of the capabilities of addressable TV and innovations such as generative AI and emerging technologies.”

NEW YORK—Ampersand has added an automated addressable TV functionality to its advertising platform that the company said will streamline workflow between buyers and sellers. 

The new enhancement automates the planning of addressable campaigns across Ampersand’s supply partners — including Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox, Altice and Verizon, which represent over 70 percent of U.S. addressable households. 

“Advertisers spent over $2 billion domestically on addressable TV ads over the past few years and are expected to double their spending by the end of 2023,” said Kalyan Lanka, VP of Product Management for Ampersand. “By consolidating and streamlining the ability to find custom audiences all in a single interface, we will allow advertisers to reach any audience across any screen, within a highly engaged context”

The inclusion of addressable TV functionality follows the previously announced introduction of Audience Builder capabilities, which democratizes audience creation and household count estimation for self-serve clients. It also builds on top of the introduction of Ampersand’s incremental reach capabilities which allows brands to increase reach by targeting light TV viewers and households that are underexposed or unexposed to their national linear campaigns, the company said. 

NEW YORK—Addressable advertising on TV is the number one priority in 2021 for nearly half of the brands and agencies surveyed in a new study called “The Transformation of Television: Embracing the Era of Addressable TV.”

The study was commissioned by Dish Media, Cadent, Canoe, Comscore, INVIDI Technologies, LiveRamp, Verizon Media, ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia, and conducted by Forrester Consulting.

According to the study, while 100% of U.S. brands and agencies in the U.S. that participated in the study have experienced at least one challenge implementing addressable advertising, 46% have it at the top of their to-do list.

Respondents viewed addressable as an opportunity to help improve the effectiveness of targeting capabilities for TV campaigns (62%), improve the ability to tie TV spend to business/sales outcomes (47%) and deliver more personalized and relevant ad experiences to viewers (44%).

Key ways to achieve these, per the study, are to simplify the buying and management of campaigns across suppliers and establishing a single measurement standard for media companies.

Ultimately, the study came up with four recommendations for pushing addressable TV forward:

• Examine media mix through a consumer-first lens; 
• Evaluate the technology and data needed to power media planning and strategies; 
• Broaden the picture of what it means to “buy TV;” and 
• Test addressable TV programs to build a business case, while preparing for a learning curve 

“The study confirmed our belief that addressable has the potential to transform the industry, but also renewed our sense of urgency to create an aligned and open ecosystem of distributors, measurement platforms and media companies,” said Kevin Arrix, senior vice president of Dish Media. “We now know that the best way to scale addressable is to have widespread industry collaboration, so we must all rapidly evolve to help advertisers optimize addressable for years to come.”

The full report is available to download online.

NEW YORK—Project OAR has announced that it is adding a new member to its consortium for addressable TV advertising in the form of the Fox Corporation. As a new member, Fox will serve on the primary Steering Committee that is tasked with creating a standard by which all parties in the TV ecosystem can collaborate and unite on addressable advertising.

“We believe that this consortium, which benefits from both sell-side and buy-side support, will help drive adoption across the industry and enable us to execute at scale,” said Dan Callahan, vice president, audience and automated sales at Fox.

In the Steering Committee, Fox joins Disney Media Networks, Warner Media, Xandr, Comcast’s FreeWheel and NBCUniversal, Hearts Television, AMC Networks, Vizio and Inscape.

Project OAR also made the announcement of the new Agency Advisory Committee that aims to provide guidance and buy-side insight into the issues of an addressable marketplace. Participation pledges for this committee came from Publicis Media, Omnicom Media Group, GroupM, IPG/Magna, Dentsu Aegis Network, Havas and Horizon Media. The group met for the first time in May to discuss issues that range from measurement to inventory management, privacy policies and cross-networking targeting.

Project OAR’s goal of an open standard for addressable advertising on Smart TVs and connected devices projects to develop its offering in the first half of 2020.

Innovation is crucial, because if you’re not going forward, you’re moving backward. This mantra is particularly true for the tech industry, with new advancements being brought to market constantly. But it is a fine balance for the advertising industry, as users don’t want to be unnecessarily disturbed when it comes to consuming content.

To achieve the holy grail of harmonious advertising, rapid technological advances are needed—but ad formats must also innovate to meet customer demands. Take the rise of virtual reality for example—brands should consider the advertising potential of this format in a few years’ time. The key to success is finding ways to run innovative ad campaigns without interfering with the user experience. Finding the balance between this, and the point where innovation exceeds utility, ultimately becoming intrusive, is increasingly complex.

WHERE IS INNOVATION HAPPENING?

1. “Pause-vertising”

AT&T and Hulu are planning to introduce ads that are displayed when the user pauses content, in both video and static image format. Some media companies question the point of these ads, as viewers tend to pause programs for a reason, with the ad never having the potential to be seen or engaged with. However, a spokesperson for AT&T counters, “we know you’re going to capture 100% viewability when they [the user] pause and un-pause.”

Introduced in an era where binge-watching prevails, these “paused” ad formats could be a smart way to easily capture audience attention—if executed correctly. For example, a soda ad that appears when a user pauses a show to grab a drink from the fridge. The trouble is the viewer can choose when to pause a show for a number of different reasons, with no set schedule that linear TV can rely on. Another consideration will be understanding which ad to show within this format, a brand awareness campaign may work better than direct response.

2. Product placement

Brands have reverted back to traditional methods of advertising by implementing product placement. Coca-Cola famously used to show its logo in the corner of the screen, over the sun, for a few seconds to be noticed subconsciously. The inclusion of a product placement is a hugely popular option and can be seen in many TV shows, music videos, social media content and movies.

Alternatively, some brands opt for a subtler approach, incorporating a product or brand logo placement into a storyline. “Riverdale,” a teen drama on Netflix, recently wove an ad for Bumble, a dating app, into its storyline. Last year the U.S. product placement marketplace was thought to exceed $10 billion and with infamous linear placements such as Ford Fusion in ”New Girl” or Manolo Blahnik in ”Sex and the City,” this is hardly surprising. Networks are keen to integrate product placement into their programs in a bid to continue attracting viewers by offering decreased ad load.

3. Addressable TV

Dubbed the future of TV, addressable leverages anonymized first- and third-party data to identify and reach specific target audiences. For example, two households watching the same content could receive two completely different ads, tailored to them. Brands can utilize available data—such as subscription details and household demographics—to better understand their audiences and ensure their ads are broadcast to the most appropriate segments.

Audience analytics have advanced, providing marketers the opportunity to go beyond targeting by age and gender. Rich behavioral and demographic data can be leveraged to identify the consumer segments that will respond to the TV ads. This new innovation enables marketers to optimize their ads, reduce costs, drive engagement and increase ROI.

UTILITY OR INNOVATION?

Although innovation is a necessary step for development, it is questionable how much innovation is necessary when it comes to ad formats. Primarily, ads serve to increase brand awareness or drive direct response. As a result, when innovation exceeds utility, it doesn’t always meet audience needs.

Whatever the format, it’s essential that effective measurement is put in place to understand audience reach and response. By analyzing peaks in search activity during and after an ad is aired, marketers can track if viewers watch the ad or instead switch channels. Using pause ads as an example, unless interaction is required, would advertisers track search activity to determine if the consumer saw the ad?

Innovation often results in more questions than answers. Advertisers need to continuously evolve and adapt to the changing ecosystem, as well as simultaneously keep the consumer in mind. Finding the right balance of innovation and utility is a fine line—brands need to ensure they are “making life easier” while, at the same time, not intrude on the user experience. The key to success lies in cracking this tricky formula and making use of the technologies available to marketers to better understand the viewer. Analyzing consumers and their behavior enables brands to deliver ads to target audiences, not only driving engagement and increasing ROI, but also ensuring KPIs are met.

Mark Hudson is the head of Business Intelligence for TVSquared. Alongside his role at TVSquared, Mark is a lecturer and advisor at numerous universities and corporate boards, as well as an author on competitive strategies. His expertise in planning helps TVSquared and its customers unlock growth based on intelligence.

NEW YORK—The development of a new, open standard for addressable advertising on connected TVs will be a group effort, as a number of America’s top media and technology companies and smart TV company Vizio are forming a consortium called Project OAR, which stands for Open Addressable Ready.

Joining Vizio as part of Project OAR are Disney’s Media Networks, Turner, Xandr, Comcast’s FreeWheel and NBC Universal, CBS, Discovery, Hearst Television, AMC Networks and Inscape. The goal will be to define technical standards for TV programmers and platforms to deliver more relevant advertising experiences within linear and on-demand formats on smart TVs.

“We all recognize the most important goal of this initiative is to drastically enhance the TV experience for people at home,” said William Wang, Vizio founder and CEO.

Inscape will be the ones developing the technology, with input from the other companies. The standard is expected to implement a technologically sound, dynamic ad-delivery system that utilized industry best practices. “The standard will define the baseline for ad delivery, impression verification and privacy compliance, but networks will have plenty of room to create unique and enriched advertising experiences,” said Jodie McAfee, senior vice president at Inscape. “We are making this flexible enough to enable interactivity and other bells and whistles that have yet to be imagined.”

Vizion has made the pledge that once the consortium has developed the standard it can be deployed on its opt-in footprint of connected TVs. The goal though, is for the protocol to be open and designed to enable any internet-connected TV maker and connected-device company to use.

Project OAR is hoping to have a working product by spring 2019, with full deployment targeted for early 2020.