Sofia Wilson

Amazon just took a huge step toward owning your living room. And independent DSPs are cooked! Let me explain what happened ... The Fire TV maker is teaming up with Roku—the #1 CTV platform in the U.S.—to launch a massive joint ad network. Together, they now control access to 80% of connected TV households in the U.S. Amazon’s DSP will power ad placement across both Fire TV and Roku Channel. 💡Why does this matter? Because it’s not Netflix vs. Disney anymore. Arguably it never was. It’s Fire TV vs. Roku vs. Samsung vs. Google TV. Silicon Valley vs. Asian OEMs. This is a hardware + OS war for the TV home screen - and Amazon just moved into a commanding position. If Amazon ends up acquiring Roku (as many now predict for 2026), it won’t just be the biggest CTV deal of the decade. It would be the final blow to independent DSPs like The Trade Desk. I still don't get it!? Because whoever owns the OS, owns the pipes. No OS access = no data, no placement, no power. The Trade Desk has spent years building algorithms to optimize CTV buys. But if Roku and Fire TV stop giving them inventory or data, or price it up, it’s game over. And building a competing OS? Too late. Amazon just blocked the last open lane. CTV ad spend is expected to hit $30B in the U.S. Owning the operating system means owning: ✅ Ad inventory ✅ Audience data ✅ Content discovery ✅ The future of streaming itself. Shout-out to Anna K. for all the killer adtech insights on our flight form Cannes Lions to Vienna. (Anna, I ultimately missed my connection and had to overnight - Tafelspitz at Plachutta made it worth it 😅) 💬 What’s your take: Is Amazon about to buy Roku? And what does that mean for the rest of the CTV stack? #CTV #Amazon #Roku #AdTech

239

58 Comments

Netflix will begin rolling out its in-house adtech suite in EMEA next week, with all 12 of its ad-tier markets having access by June. “We’ve evolved,” Netflix vice-president of EMEA advertising Damien Bernet told The Media Leader. “Advertisers are going to get new tools, better measurement and more creative formats.” https://lnkd.in/dbF9Chr4

254

7 Comments

Walmart Connect 🔆 Retail Media Snapshot Series by Lance Pacheco ⬇️ "With 4,700+ stores, and 90% of Americans living within 10 minutes of a Walmart store, Walmart Connect offers advertisers the ability to use Walmart's vast amount of first-party data to put their brands in front of the right audiences online & in-store. One of my favorite things about Walmart Connect is the ability to see In-Store attributable sales from online ad campaigns. 📸 The goal of this Snapshot Series is to educate advertisers on the different retail media networks (RMNs) out there, and to provide a concise easy to reference document that has key information you need about a particular RMN." Stay tuned as we roll out similar content for other RMNs in the coming weeks!

80

7 Comments

An unlikely player carving out space in streaming: #Walmart. The retail giant has made some bold moves lately: buying #VIZIO, putting its OS on the in-house Onn brand, including Paramount+ with Walmart+ membership, and now offering customers the option to add #Peacock. Even without its own streaming service, Walmart has always been hard to ignore. When I was at Disney, Fox, and Roku, product launches and promotions often revolved around how Walmart would support them. At one point, Walmart seemed poised to compete with #Amazon directly. While Amazon built Prime, Walmart owned the TVOD leader VUDU, dabbled in original content, and even tested its own delivery-plus-content model — before eventually selling it to NBCU. For a time, it became a neutral player, selling affordable third-party hardware to anyone and everyone. Now Walmart is a player — in the OS space, the hardware space, and emerging as a quiet but powerful force in the fractured streaming landscape. It goes to show that in media, even unlikely players can reshape the market. #Streaming #Media #Tech #DigitalMedia #StreamingWars https://lnkd.in/gawMY5iQ

30

We’re just days from one of the biggest weekends in professional sports-- the perfect time to release our latest research on sports on Roblox! In collaboration with Futures Sport & Entertainment, we looked at how Roblox is an increasingly important channel for top sports leagues/brands to reach Gen Z consumers and grow fandom for their sport. Key takeaways: 🏈 In 2024, users spent more than 500M hours playing sports experiences on Roblox, and as of Q3 2024, sports experiences added 28% more daily unique players and grew total hours engaged by 26% YoY. ��� The average age of the sports audience on Roblox is 18 ⚽ Users exposed to sports experiences on Roblox agreed they were 11% more likely to watch games & sporting events games or events that season. Sports are showing up all over the platform thanks to our partnerships with professional leagues and teams. The #Roblox community can support their favorite teams in official gear on their avatars, and even perform a victory dance or two. Read the sports on Roblox report here: https://lnkd.in/g_x_aTDW See our latest blog to check out the latest updates to our sports experiences: https://lnkd.in/gm9CdFT4 #futureofsports #gaming #metaverse #sportsmarketing

146

18 Comments

🚀 "We’re only scratching the surface." By connecting DICK'S Media’s athlete data with the Roku Data Cloud, brands can now reach 45 million addressable athletes with hyper-relevant campaigns and see the real-world sales impact of their CTV buys. Want to see how retail + streaming together changes the game? David Young from DICK’S Media breaks it down. #Roku #Streaming #Advertising #CTV #AdTech #RetailMedia

15

2 Comments

Culture Happens on Roku. In the digital age, cultural moments drive search behaviors. And CTV is no exception. Here are two recent examples of how Roku consumers responded to major TV events: Late Night Shakeup Creates Search Surge 📈🌙 - In the week following The Late Show’s cancellation, searches for all late-night talk shows grew by +122%. - Searches for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in particular grew by +172% day-over-day once the news was acknowledged on the program, and searches for The Daily Show grew by +95% over the same period. South Park Makes Waves🏅🔥 - Following South Park’s much-talked-about season premiere, it was the top-searched TV series on Roku last week (unseating perennial search leader Bluey!) and the fastest-growing searched title by far. #RokuInsights #StreamingInsights #TelevisionTrends #LateShow #SouthPark

82

3 Comments

✅🖥️ AdWeek (6/16): “The integration, timed to coincide with the beginning of Cannes Lions, will let marketers activate against Roku’s logged-in audience directly through Amazon’s DSP, creating a pool of users spanning the Fire TV and Roku operating systems, as well as the streaming apps Prime Video and The Roku Channel. To do so, it uses a shared identifier that enables deduplicated reach, frequency capping, and full-funnel measurement across devices and services. Ultimately, this will let marketers track CTV ad exposure to Amazon sales. According to Amazon, early tests of the integration led to a 40% increase in unique reach and a 30% reduction in over-frequency, letting advertisers deliver three times more value from their campaigns without increasing spend. For Roku, the deal underscores its role as a distribution hub: More than 50% of U.S. TV streaming time occurs on Roku, according to the company. It also signals its intention to remain open and interoperable, even as competitive tensions with other DSPs rise.” ⬇️ #programmatic #streaming #upfronts #streaming #fast #tvos https://lnkd.in/epjXt3Tc

11

I’m back with Nielsen ’s April 2025 The Gauge report, and streaming just hit another record. Total TV usage stayed flat compared to March, but streaming? Still climbing, reaching a new all-time high of 44.3% of total TV viewing. And leading the charge? YouTube and The Roku Channel, both hitting their highest-ever shares of TV time. 📈 YouTube hit 12.4%, marking its third straight monthly record. Since January, it’s added 1.6 percentage points, and it’s up nearly 3 full points since last April. That’s serious momentum. 📺 The Roku Channel also hit a new high, 2.4% of TV watch-time in April. Its viewership has jumped 21% since November, coinciding with Roku’s rollout of access to HBO MAX TV and other streamers right from its platform. Over the past year, Roku is up 67%, more than any other reported distributor. Meanwhile, cable and broadcast both declined, again. Cable slipped 1%, while broadcast fell 3.1%, now making up just 22% of total TV use. As multiplatform strategies keep evolving, the winners are becoming clearer. Platforms that offer seamless, centralized access to more content are rising fast, and viewers are voting with their remotes. Full breakdown from Nielsen is linked below. 👇 #tv #streaming #news #nielsen #hollywood

18

5 Comments

With streaming eclipsing linear viewership for the first time this May, it should come as no surprise that we’re seeing a flurry of activity across the industry as networks look to evolve their portfolios. Here are a few of the most recent changes: 🥊 Bloodsport(s) - No I’m not talking about the 1988 cinematic masterpiece starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Rather, we’re seeing a number of “gladiator sports” see their streaming and broadcast rights commanding serious premiums from suitors given the ultra-premium live ad inventory that goes along with them. Paramount secured UFC’s rights for $7.7B while ESPN landed select WWE rights for $1.6B. 🧺 New Bundles - As ESPN and Fox both launch their new streaming services later this month, they’ve also just announced that they will offer a discounted bundle of the two services for $39.99/month. 🫶 Consolidation - Disney is looking to simplify their offerings by folding the Hulu app into the Disney+ app in 2026 to improve the customer experience and thus reduce subscriber churn. 🎁 New Services - Even though we’re seeing ad-supported viewing grow in popularity, Roku believes that as streaming prices continue to rise, there is a corner of the market that is looking for a low-cost, but still ad-free option. This is why they are launching Howdy which will cost $2.99/month and provide an uninterrupted experience. Matt’s Hot Take™ - As the media ecosystem fights for consumer attention, two of the biggest themes that have emerged is land-grabbing live, premium content and finding ways to streamline the viewer experience. Live sports is the crown jewel of content because it’s become the last bastion of premium, high-engagement, ad-supported content. As exciting as #bamarushtok can be, those OOTD’s can’t hold a candle to live sports viewership. Simplification isn’t as clear though as there’s a balance between creating streamlined experiences and potentially going too far and creating consumer confusion. However, what is clear is that as media continues to fragment and consumer behavior shifts, premium experiences are only becoming more valuable to advertisers. Check out this week's newsletter where we consider if the iPhone can remain the doorway to the internet in a post-AI world: http://bit.ly/4mJCZ28 Subscribe inside the newsletter link for more!

12

3 Comments

LiveRamp Expands Meta Insights Available to Retail Media Networks 👉Learn more : https://lnkd.in/ef7Mvw2f 🤔Retail media networks can now unlock new attribution insights from their Meta campaign investments through the LiveRamp Clean Room. By connecting Meta campaign results with their own first-party sales data, RMNs and their partners can see how off-property sites, including Meta, drive sales, orders, and ROAS across campaigns, brands, and products. Let’s accelerate data collaboration and retail media 🔥

15

🚀 7 Streaming TV Innovations Shaping Advertising in 2025 🎬📺 Streaming TV is no longer the future—it’s the NOW. With more premium inventory, better targeting, AI-powered optimization, and granular transparency in delivery, advertisers have more control and impact than ever before. The Trade Desk recently shared 7 key CTV innovations that are changing the game. Here’s my take on how they benefit advertisers in 2025: 🔹 1. Disney’s Expanding Streaming Audiences Access to Disney’s vast and engaged audience means richer targeting and premium content opportunities for brands. More inventory = more scale. 🔹 2. Roku + Unified ID 2.0 = Smarter Addressability Better audience matching while protecting privacy. UID 2.0 adoption continues to lead the industry globally in privacy compliant identification. 🔹 3. Netflix’s 70M+ Monthly Active Users Netflix’s ad-supported tier unlocks a highly engaged, global audience. Now, brands can tap into premium content with precision. 🔹 4. Local Targeting for Maximum ROI CTV isn’t just for national brands. Hyper-local targeting makes it a powerful tool for small businesses and smaller budgets. Spend smarter, not more! 🔹 5. Sellers and Publishers 500+= Quality at Scale The S&P 500 for Display ads. More top-tier sellers, higher standards for placement, better ad placements and brand-safe environments, giving advertisers confidence in their media buys. 🔹 6. Live Sports Streaming = High Engagement Premium sports streaming creates real-time, high-impact advertising opportunities, perfect for brands looking to connect with passionate audiences. Because it's biddable, gone are the big "package" requirements for major events and live games. 🔹 7. AI + Omnichannel Optimization (Kokai) AI powered, human driven! AI helps our Traders optimize CTV alongside other digital channels, making their dollars work smarter. 💡 What This Means for Advertisers: Streaming TV in 2025 is smarter, more measurable, and more powerful than ever. Add in premium audience data, path to conversion reporting, cutting edge AI-driven optimizations, and 1P data ingestion, allowing brands to reach the right consumers at scale—without walled garden limitations. 🔥 Is Streaming TV part of your 2025 strategy? Drop a comment below—let’s talk! 👇 #streamingtv #ConnectedTV #CTVAdvertising #Programmatic #DigitalMarketing #TheTradeDesk #DSP

26

3 Comments

https://lnkd.in/gJwKb5af Big news in streaming and local TV: Amazon is now rolling out location-based interactive video ads on Prime Video, a move that brings national reach together with hyper-local relevance. Here’s why this matters and how it ties directly into what we’re doing at Loon Advertising: 1. National scale + local precision = powerful combo Advertisers can now run a single creative and customize it by ZIP code or state — local dealership info, local pricing, local offers, while tapping the full streaming audience. As someone whose roots are in dealership floors and running direct-to-dealer media, I find this exciting: the ability to speak locally, with streaming’s broad reach, is a game changer. 2. Interactive formats = real engagement The new ad format lets viewers click on-screen prompts (e.g., “Send to Phone”) and receive offers directly to their mobile device. For Loon’s programmatic + measurement focus, that means richer signals, stronger attribution, and better outcomes for our dealer partners. 3. First-party data + streaming = competitive advantage Amazon is leaning into its massive shopper data and viewer base, powering this format via its Geographic Insights & Activation (GIA) system. Early case: Purina saw a 300% jump in new-to-brand page views and a four-fold increase in engagement. For brands servicing dealerships, this is exactly the kind of measurement-driven storytelling we at Loon live for not just “we ran ads,” but “we reached the right person, at the right time, in the right place.” 4. What this means for local TV & dealers Local broadcasters have long held the regional ad-dollar throne. With streaming + location + interactivity, that dynamic shifts fast. For dealership media budgets, that opens up new corridors: streaming isn’t just national networks anymore. It’s direct to your backyard, your neighborhood, your showroom. At Loon, here’s how we see it fitting in: • We’ll leverage these new formats to blend national and local dealer campaigns seamlessly. • We’ll use our clean-room + measurement toolkit to track reach and frequency (your favorites) across local ZIPs and streaming environments. • We’ll help dealers speak locally (think: “Call your Eden Prairie showroom”) while riding the streaming wave. • We’ll stay ahead of the curve so our clients don’t just keep up — they lead. Bottom line: Streaming has entered a local battleground. And for dealerships, marketers, and agencies like ours, that’s a huge opportunity. The key is doing it with the right data, the right measurement, and the right creative. At Loon, we’re all in. If you’re curious about what this means for your dealership’s media mix — let’s talk. #StreamingAdvertising #Programmatic #LocalTV #DealershipMarketing #CleanRoom #Measurement #LoonAdvertising

18