HUNT VALLEY, MD.—Sinclair has made a strategic investment in IRCODE, a company specializing in computer vision and AI aimed at making television interactive and shoppable.

Sinclair will also roll out IRCODE-powered interactive television through IRCODE Lens at its Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas, stations in July. Stations in other markets will follow throughout the year.

“Television has always delivered the audience. What it could not deliver was the proof of what happened next. IRCODE changes that,” said IRCODE CEO Matty Beckerman. “We give broadcasters and their advertisers the infrastructure to make every moment on screen interactive, measurable and connected to a real outcome. At Sinclair's scale, this is a new foundation for how television drives business results and how viewers connect with what they watch.”

IRCODE Lens is a 24/7 real-time interactive channel that lets viewers engage directly with what they see on screen to buy, win, connect and explore. The interactive TV solution is a white-label engagement and attribution layer that turns any piece of content or advertising into a measurable consumer touchpoint. IRCODE Lens runs entirely inside the broadcaster's existing apps, so every engagement and conversion stays first-party and owned by the station and advertiser.

The rollout will allow the stations to make interactive television a native capability inside their own platforms, giving brands and audiences a direct path to the products and experiences on screen.

IRCODE's real-time image recognition works like Shazam for images. It identifies what is on screen instantly without QR codes and connects the viewer to relevant content and commerce in the moment. The same technology is used today in 52 countries to recognize broadcast and on-screen content in real time at frame-level accuracy. The technology is format agnostic and built to create a frictionless customer journey from ads to premium content live sports and news.

To use IRCODE Lens, viewers in Salt Lake City or Austin will open their Sinclair station app, point their phone at the TV screen and move directly from what they are watching to the product or experience behind it. Because the interaction happens inside the station’s own app, the audience is identified and opted in, and every step of the journey from first scan to conversion is captured as first-party data.

For brands, interactive television closes the distance between awareness and action. An advertiser running a spot in Salt Lake City or Austin will be able to measure who engaged, what they did next and whether it led to a purchase with the same precision expected from a digital campaign. Engagement, conversion and return on investment become visible at the campaign level, and the data that proves it stays first-party to the ecosystem.

“Using their cell phone cameras and our app, viewers can participate in real time polls, comment on local news and interact with our advertisers. IRCODE is a powerful technology that provides an easy-to-use interactive experience that adds enormous value to our content. Now, we can plan on integrating user experience into our traditional over the air broadcasts,” said Del Parks, president of technology at Sinclair.

More information is available on the IRCODE and Sinclair websites.

NEW YORK—At IAB NewFronts 2026, Samsung Ads, the advanced advertising division of Samsung Electronics, unveiled a full-funnel performance platform powered by AI and shoppable innovation that includes a new commerce integration with Amazon to accelerate impact.

The integration with Amazon marks a notable expansion in the ease and capability of shoppable TV, providing advertisers with a full-funnel ad platform from ads to actual purchases.

Additionally, Samsung TV Plus announced an expanded offering with live events, creator-led programming and interactive experiences.

“This moment marks a new era of TV, and Samsung is leading what comes next,” said Sang Kim, executive vice president and head of North America Service Business, Samsung Electronics. “Consumers are choosing ad-supported streaming, creators they trust, and live moments they want to experience together, and brands need a platform built to turn that attention into action. By combining connection, intelligence, and outcomes, Samsung is moving TV beyond reach and into real, measurable performance that drives business growth.”

As part of the presentation, Samsung is announcing a partnership with Amazon Ads to bring Amazon’s remote-enabled Interactive Video Ad (IVA) technology directly to Samsung TV Plus. This makes Samsung TV Plus the first external CTV device partner to offer this capability through Samsung’s integration with Amazon DSP.

Launching in July, the integration enables viewers to take immediate action from their Samsung TV screen. For brands selling on Amazon, “Add to Cart” functionality allows shoppers to purchase directly within their Amazon storefront with a seamless click of the remote. For advertisers who do not sell on Amazon, outcome driven headlines like “Send to Phone” and “Sign Up Today” extend engagement beyond the TV screen.

In addition, advertisers will be able to access and activate Samsung TV Plus inventory through Samsung’s partnership with Amazon DSP, delivering the same seamless buying experience they are already familiar with. They can also tap into Amazon’s trillions of browsing, streaming, and shopping signals—brought together in Amazon Marketing Cloud—to unlock robust measurement and insights across the funnel.

“Our shoppable ad formats are proven to drive measurable performance on and off Amazon through our differentiated combination of broad reach and authenticated signals,” said Kelly MacLean, vice president of engineering, science and product for Amazon DSP. “By bringing Amazon’s interactive ad technology to Samsung through Amazon DSP, together we’re providing an experience for advertisers to deliver on any full-funnel marketing objective – whether it’s awareness, consideration, or conversion.”

Samsung Ads is also expanding its capabilities with new formats via Creative Canvas, its turnkey solution for brands to update their ad creative for CTV. New capabilities including product galleries, vertical video, and click-to-email are evolving the TV screen where viewers can deeply engage, explore, and shop.

“Shoppable innovation is no longer a future concept, it’s the standard,” said Courtney Howell, head of Agency Development, Samsung Ads. “With our new Amazon integration and the expansion of Samsung Ads interactive ad capabilities, we’re transforming the biggest screen in the home into a fully shoppable, performance-driven platform where inspiration, engagement, and purchase happen in the same moment.”

Samsung also highlighted AI-powered improvements to its platform. These include:

• AI-Powered Contextual Targeting: Continuous interpretation of action on-screen to influence timing, relevance, and the next best move, ensuring brands appear in the exact right place at exactly the right moment.
• AI-Powered Audience Collectives: Leverage proprietary Samsung insights across devices to identify those most likely to engage, convert, or respond – keeping campaigns precise, relevant, and highly effective.

“If Samsung TV Plus is the foundation and AI is the engine, performance is the impact,” added Kim. “When TV becomes interactive, performance follows. Samsung is turning attention into action by bringing intelligence, interactivity, and measurement together on the biggest screen in the home.”

During the presentation, Samsung doubled down on interactive experiences that create more meaningful connections between brands and audiences.

In 2026, Samsung TV Plus plans to embed interactivity across the entire service with partners like A+E Global Media, AMC Networks, LiveNOW from Fox, MotoAmerica, Mark Rober TV, TelevisaUnivision, and Vevo.

Newfront announcements regarding live experiences and exclusives arriving on Samsung TV Plus in 2026 included:

• HOOLIGANS: The ARCH Racing Project with Keanu Reeves & Gard Hollinger: Executive produced by and starring Keanu Reeves and Gard Hollinger, the six-part docuseries follows the founders of ARCH Motorcycle as they enter the world of professional racing with the same precision and innovation that defines their brand. Produced by V10 Entertainment, this underdog story offers an inside look at how the lean, scrappy, and dynamic team at ARCH punches above their weight as they go up against the giants of motorsports. Premiering this summer only on Samsung TV Plus, Hooligans: The ARCH Racing Project marks the service’s expansion into original content with its first-ever exclusive docuseries.
• Mark Rober Live Global Event (wt): In a top secret, two-hour global live event on Samsung TV Plus, viral inventor and former NASA engineer Mark Rober invites audiences into a real-time, high stakes scientific mission where discoveries unfold live. Blending cutting edge technology with unprecedented access, this is a rare moment where viewers won’t just watch history, they’ll experience it as it happens. Location and premiere date to be announced at a later date.
• MotoAmerica: Samsung TV Plus is revving up its live sports portfolio as the exclusive FAST home of MotoAmerica, the premier motorcycle road racing series in North America, streaming every live race for fans and delivering wall-to-wall coverage throughout the 2026-27 seasons.

WINTER PARK, Fla.—With the rapid growth of digital ad spending in the U.S., Spincast has received a new U.S. patent for technologies that enable AI-powered shoppable TV so that consumers could directly buy products and services while watching premium content.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Spincast U.S. Patent No. 12,556,771, titled "Video System With Intra-Video User Input and Related Methods" for technologies that enable consistent, frictionless "buy what you see" AI-powered shoppable TV transactions within premium video content, without the frustration of scanning QR codes or intrusive ad overlays that disrupt the shared-screen TV viewing experience.

"Our AI technology is a game-changer for shoppable TV, allowing us to make every ad and moment on screen actionable and shoppable. We can even re-monetize past product placement deals found in evergreen content," explained Daniel H. Thompson, founder and CEO of Spincast.

Spincast said its offering eliminates inconsistent shoppability across platforms, channels and shows and provides an integrated experience compatible with major TV ecosystems. The company added that, unlike some solutions, it does not require disabling studio-grade anti-piracy protections that could expose premium content to piracy risks.

More information is available at spincasttv.com.

A new survey from Horowitz Research shows how rapidly consumers are embracing shoppable media and the growing importance of social media purchasing decisions, with findings that nearly half of consumers have purchased a product through a social media platform in the past month and data showing that half of consumers say that social media has become a primary way to learn about new brands and products.

“Shoppable media is changing the game for everyone within the media ecosystem, creating new ways to increase consumer engagement with advertising, shortening the marketing funnel by driving product discovery and conversion in one experience, and providing media and tech companies with the opportunity to monetize additional revenue streams ” notes Adriana Waterston, executive vice president and insights & strategy lead for Horowitz Research, a division of M/A/R/C Research. “The opportunities presented by shoppable media can already be evidenced in the social space. We are excited to see how the CTV shoppable media space will evolve in the next year as more brands lean into shoppable advertising.”

The research highlights how shoppable media has evolved into a dynamic ecosystem that spans social media, connected TV, and the gaming environment that continue to draw advertising and marketing dollars away from traditional TV advertising.

According to Horowitz Research’s latest annual report, "State of Media, Entertainment and Tech: Advertising in a Digital World 2025", today’s consumers encounter shoppable touchpoints across multiple channels, from scanning QR codes during streamed content to interacting with shoppable posts and video on social apps to making-in-app purchases while gaming. As this ecosystem grows, social media in particular plays a leading role, with platforms like TikTok Shop, Instagram Shopping, and YouTube Shopping making it easier than ever for consumers to discover products and make in-app purchases.

More specifically, the study found that nearly half (45%) of consumers have purchased a product through a social media platform in the past month, with TikTok Shop leading the way. Convenience and product discovery are driving the social media shopping trend. In fact, half of consumers (50%) agree that social media has become a primary way to learn about new brands and products.

The study also reveals that 23% of consumers aged 18 and older have clicked on a brand ad in their social media feed or homepage, and 13% have purchased products from an influencer’s social media page.

Adoption is highest among women aged 18-34 and Latinx consumers, with Latinx shoppers more likely to purchase through TikTok Shop compared to their white, Black, and Asian counterparts. Among social media shoppers, 71% reported placing one to four orders in the past month, while 23% placed five or more orders.

Beyond social media, connected TV is also becoming a powerful shoppable media channel, the researchers reported.

Viewers are increasingly engaging in interactive ads that feature scannable QR codes, allowing them to learn more about a product or make a purchase directly from the TV screen. Fifteen percent of consumers scanned a QR code that appeared on their TV screen while watching content in the past month, and 10% say that QR codes that pop up while watching TV inviting them to learn more about a product are the most effective way to reach them.

ion about the State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Advertising in a Digital World 2025 report, is available here.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—A new study from LG Ad Solutions indicates that consumers want more features that would allow them to shop for products on the connected TVs and that many consumers are already using their CTVs to find and buy products.

While mobile devices still play a central role in online shopping, “The Shoppable TV Report: 2025 and Beyond” found that 70% of CTV viewers indicated they'd save products in a wishlist on their TVs to check out on another device.

The study’s results also reveals a transformative shift in how viewers approach commerce, signaling that consumers are looking for innovations that would simplify the path to purchase on the biggest screen in the home, the researchers said.

“While secondary screens like mobile devices remain integral to shopping and the broader advertising ecosystem, it’s clear consumers want more when it comes to TV,” said Monica Longoria, head of marketing insights at LG Ad Solutions. “Emerging technologies are set to drive this next wave of innovation – eliminating friction and paving the way for a more seamless, intuitive shoppable TV experience.”

Other key findings from the study include:

• A desire to do more with shoppable TV: While the majority of CTV viewers say they use their mobile phones to make a purchase after seeing a TV ad, 60% would save their shipping and payment details on their TV for quick checkout.
• Tech integration takes center stage: When asked how they’d like to complete purchases via TV, 62% of CTV viewers would use their voice to add products through a smart home device.
• Key TV purchase drivers: Top drivers of TV ad purchases include discounts or promotions (57%), product features (42%), demonstrations of product use (36%), and attractive visuals (32%).
• Features of shoppable ad creatives can drive brand marketing goals: Dynamic creative, time-sensitive, special offers and click to on-screen landing pages can help drive 2-5X lift in brand consideration and purchase intent (compared to US benchmarks).

For more information on LG Ad Solutions and to download the report, visit https://lgads.tv/resource/the-shoppable-tv-report-2025-and-beyond.

NEW YORK—NBCUniversal and Walmart said they are bringing new shoppable experiences and measurement capabilities to live sports coverage. Kicking off on Thanksgiving night with NBC’s Miami Dolphins-Green Bay Packers NFL telecast, the effort will allow viewers of both linear TV and streaming feeds to start their holiday shopping from the comfort of home.

The plans to bring live shopping to live sports builds on last year’s announcement that NBCUniversal and Walmart were testing the sales impact of ads in live-streamed sports telecasts. Walmart also served as the launch partner for NBCUniversal’s Must Shop TV.

“The power and reach of NBCUniversal’s sports portfolio is unmatched—bringing game-day action to life for fans and brands in a highly engaging and effective ecosystem,” NBCUniversal president, advertising and partnerships Alison Levin said. “By teaming up with the powerhouse of Walmart and Walmart Connect, we’re differentiating the viewer experience with a first-of-its-kind shoppable activation, while also amplifying real, cross-platform accountability for marketers on one of our biggest stages. This is the next era of advertising—the most compelling content, an innovative viewer experience and real, cross-platform reach and attribution.”

The two companies reported that viewers can easily shop directly on Walmart.com through an on-screen QR code and, for the first time ever, can use NBCUniversal’s new text-to-shop functionality in its Shop the Pod without missing a moment of content.

Beyond holiday deals, fans will also have the opportunity to shop from brands selling at Walmart. These advertisers will be provided with closed-loop measurement to attribute sales across linear and streaming media displayed during programming, through Walmart Connect and NBCUniversal’s data collaboration, the companies said.

Walmart will also feature a two-minute segment from its new advertisement campaign “Deals of Desire,” showcasing the retailer’s biggest holiday deals.

“Walmart customers love professional football—86% of surveyed customers told us they watch the games,” said Rich Lehrfeld, general manager and senior vice president of Walmart Connect. “The new advertising opportunities we’re introducing, powered by Walmart’s scale and reach, will be a game-changer in helping to solve the linear equation by tying our in-store purchase data to linear audiences.”

This collaboration will extend beyond Thanksgiving, Walmart and NBCU said.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—LG Ad Solutions has released a new survey that indicates many consumers would like to be able to shop directly from their TVs. 

Its latest streaming survey, “The Shoppable TV Report: 2024 and Beyond,” found that 53% of CTV users wish all TV ads had a quick option to buy the product and 63% wish they could see store/brand inventory from their TV.

“Most CTV users envision and desire a TV experience that enables them to easily purchase the products advertised to them,” said Tony Marlow, CMO at LG Ad Solutions. “The future of television is shaping up to be an immersive canvas of personalized, interactive experiences. We are entering an era where TV is not just a device for passive viewing, but also a dynamic platform for engagement, interaction, and shopping.”

The study surveyed more than 1,200 US consumers to determine their perceptions of shoppable TV advertisements and subsequent purchasing behavior.

Among CTV users, 81% are influenced by TV ads in their shopping decisions and 63% often discover new brands and products through TV ads. Beyond influence and product discovery, 47% have made a purchase after seeing a TV ad in the past three months. Of those consumers, most (56%) completed a purchase using their mobile phone, followed by laptop/desktop (45%), in-store (31%), tablets (31%) and on CTV (29%), the researchers reported. 

“The study’s finding that relevance is consumers’ overwhelming impetus behind scanning or purchasing after seeing a TV ad, highlights advertisers’ need for accurate audience targeting," Marlow continued. "Marketers need to take advantage of niche audience datasets, such as consumer purchase and ACR segments, available in our LoopIQ solution, to create personalized and interactive shoppable ad experiences within CTV environments that will drive better engagement and outcomes for both advertisers and consumers.”

The survey also found: 

• Consumers like QR codes: 7 in 10 viewers like TV ad creatives that include a QR code, with 62% open to scanning a QR code on a TV ad in the next 12 months and 38% likely to make a purchase after scanning a QR code on a TV ad. Additionally, 49% say they will scan a QR code on a TV ad to take advantage of a discount.
• But QR codes must be made more effective with personalization: The primary reason consumers don’t scan QR codes on TV ads is a lack of interest in the product or brand (70%). Additionally, respondents note that the ad did not appear for long enough (21%), their phone/tablet was out of reach (13%), they don't know how to scan a QR code (10%) and there was no discount code (8%) as reasons why they didn’t scan.
• Shoppable TV reaches consumers throughout the purchase funnel: By category, Clothing/Apparel and Electronics showed the highest engagement/attention potential with Shoppable TV ads, while Grocery/CPG, Restaurants, and TV/Film represent the largest opportunities for purchase intention using QR codes in creative. 

ONTARIO—This year could be the break-out year for “shoppable TV,” which allows viewers to immediately purchase products seen on their favorite TV programs, right in the comfort of their living rooms.

The proof: Shoppable advertising platform TheTake announced a deal with LG Electronics at CES 2020 to integrate TheTake’s AI-enabled shoppable video software directly into LG’s 2020 smart TVs. Meanwhile, NBCUniversal is ramping up “Shoppable TV,” its own shoppable ad platform, which the company has been trialing on various programs since May 2019.

The old joke about being able to point and click to purchase Jennifer Aniston’s sweater on “Friends” illustrates just how long the concept has been in play. But technology has come a long way since then.

“Advertisers have been looking for ways to make their ad placements interactive for quite some time.” said Mark Hudson, TVSquared's head of Business Intelligence. (TVSquared helps advertisers assess the performance of their linear and digital TV buys.) “Today, the timing might be right, as the evolution and fragmentation of TV has been driven by the viewers themselves wanting to have more control over when, where and how they watch content.”

The hunger to buy products seen on TV seems to be growing. According to Parks Associates, 26% of U.S. broadband households see purchasing products seen on TV ads to be “appealing or very appealing.”

BROADCASTER-AGNOSTIC

The shoppable ad platform announced by TheTake and LG last month is broadcaster-agnostic. In fact, beyond selling TheTake the rights to correlate products shown on TV with manufacturers wanting to sell them online, broadcasters have little else to do with this shoppable ad platform. TheTake does the heavy lifting.

“Our retail database contains over 200 million products, supported by thousands of retailers,” said Ty Cooper, TheTake’s co-founder and CEO. “We tag products as they appear in TV programs and present buying windows to viewers when these products turn up onscreen. Using their LG remote, the viewer just clicks on the buying option and the order is directed to the retailer’s website where the order is completed. Meanwhile, we charge the retailers per click and/or take a percentage of the sale in compensation for our work.”

LG smart TV users will be able to buy TheTake-enabled shoppable products with the click of their remote. So will customers of one yet unnamed U.S. MVPD who is integrating TheTake’s shoppable ad platform into their set-top boxes in 2020.

Meanwhile, TheTake has been busy striking broadcaster-specific shoppable TV deals with WarnerMedia, A+E Networks, Crown Media Family Networks and NBCUniversal.

“Our work with TheTake is really the first time we will be able to make shoppable experiences on our linear networks seamless, with the first rollout on LG televisions this year,” said

Larry Allen, WarnerMedia Ad Sales’ vice president of ad product strategy. “Their AI technology, which helps identify what’s on-screen and ties it to an ecommerce opportunity, is unique and, more importantly, scalable. We’re excited to see how consumers embrace this format this year.”

NBCUNIVERSAL PUSHES AHEAD

In contrast to TheTake’s shoppable ad platform, NBCUniversal’s ShoppableTV is broadcaster-centric. In fact, the system won’t work without the broadcaster’s active participation.

“During NBCUniversal programming, viewers are alerted to an upcoming, on-air shoppable moment,” said Josh Feldman, executive vice president/head of marketing and advertising creative for NBCUniversal. “An NBCU code appears on the lower third of the screen, and viewers simply point their smartphone at the television, scan the code and are taken directly to the brand's site to complete their purchase.”

NBCUniversal makes its money by taking a percentage of the sale; the percentage varying from client to client depending on whatever deal has been struck.

NBCUniversal started rolling out ShoppableTV in test trials in May 2019; extending the technology to “our full portfolio in October of 2019, adding lifestyle brands for the first time,” said Feldman. “Since our launch in May, we have executed several ShoppableTV experiences across a variety of networks and formats. For example, during the French Open, we partnered with Lacoste to drive viewers to shop immediately on the brand's website. Since then, we've also activated with Walmart in partnership with ‘The Today Show;’ Roli during NBC's ‘Songland;’ Zwift for the Tour de France and most recently with dpHUE during E!'s ‘Very Cavallari’ holiday special.”

HOW WILL IT IMPACT CONVENTIONAL ADS?

The ability of shoppable ads to generate revenues from programming, rather than commercial spots, is good news for broadcasters in a PVR-driven ad-skipping age. But given that advertising dollars are limited, the question has to be asked: Will shoppable ads cannibalize conventional TV advertising sales?

Josh Feldman doesn’t think so. “There is no conflict with the rest of our advertising business,” he said. “What is nice about ShoppableTV is that it opens the door to many brands that are not traditional national TV advertisers to sell their products directly to our valuable audiences across all of NBCU.” He added that “commercial innovation ads” like ShoppableTV test well with TV viewers, with 92% preferring them to standard ads.”

WarnerMedia’s Larry Allen shares Feldman’s confidence. “I think the media industry overall is trying to move away from just measuring the value of advertising through the lens of exposure and layering in insights about how advertising actually drove consumers to take action,” said Allen. “Shoppable ads are another part of that shift and is another tool for our ad sales organization to engage with clients in thinking about how their investments work harder within our premium content, not only in a traditional 30-second commercial.”

Meanwhile, TVSquared’s Mark Hudson says the real threat to conventional TV ads is not shoppable ads, but the imprecise targeting of 30-second TV spots to people who want to buy these products.

“The key to making the ads themselves successful is using data to determine who will be most likely to respond to that sort of ad,” he said. “That’s a question of skilled targeting and data understanding, rather than the ‘wow’ factor of an ad.”