What were the key takeaways and “aha” moments the October 14 ScreenShift event? We asked panel moderators to share their thoughts on an conference that brought together thought leaders from agencies, brands, platforms and tech.
Media Buyers and Planners: Ask Us Anything
The questions from the audience were so diverse, jumping from topic to topic. But what stood out to me was the panelists’ belief that advertisers are reembracing TV for its reach/stability. Advertisers are seeing stronger ROI performance when adding TV back on their plans. This is resulting in a reallocation of budgets, with some funds shifting away from down-funnel channels to TV.It seems the pendulum is swinging back, positioning TV as a cornerstone of media plans, or at the very least, ensuring it receives a fair share of investment. – Erin Firneno, Senior Vice President, Business Intelligence, Advertiser Perceptions
The Great Rebundling – Presented by Cablefax
What really struck me is how invested all of these companies are in working together to develop a new video model – and how it can benefit them all. AMC Networks came to Charter early to strike a hybrid linear-streaming package. I also found the differing views on FAST interesting. Programmers seem wedded to it, but Charter has reservations about adding all this free content to its packages. That said, it is featuring FAST through its Xumo offering. Bottom line: there’s more than one way to bundle. – Amy Maclean, Editorial Director, Cablefax
Winning the Brand: What it Takes to Attract Advertising Dollars
- “Premium video” is whatever the end user is engaged with and paying attention to – that can be a screen as large as a theater or something they’re watching on their phone.
- Agentic programmatic buying is the next wave for hands on keyboard media professionals – less time setting up hundreds of placements in a platform, but a greater responsibility for quality assurance.
- The industry is looking for ways to re-establish daily media routines in the streaming era, whether that’s through democratization of local news platforms or watching Love Island with dinner. – Luke Fowler, Director of Performance Media, KSM Media
The AI Advantage: Redefining Media Strategy
My biggest takeaway was how Amazon is positioning itself in the GenAI video space for advertisers in being high fidelity because of its awareness of products (i.e. Amazon ecom). They far and away can beat anyone else in the space on that end. That was a real aha for me re: how Amazon is thinking about its market positioning. – Caroline Giegerich, VP, AI Integration & Acceleration, IAB
Precision at Scale: Unlocking the Power of CTV & Addressable Advertising
“The key to unlocking CTV’s full potential lies in partnering with platforms that offer premium inventory – ensuring brands reap the full-funnel benefits of high-quality environments and engaging content, such as live sports. These advantages are amplified by advances in technology, data access, and ad innovation, empowering advertisers to precisely target, reach, and measure high-value audiences at scale and in an automated way.” – Ben Vandegrift, VP, Measurement Strategy & Innovation, VAB
Winning With Live TV: Revenue, Reach and Rights Optimization
Our conversation focused on the power of live sports in an increasingly fragmented television environment to drive viewer acquisition and retention and fan engagement. We discussed different live event strategies for Disney and Netflix; debated the risks versus the rewards of live sports rights acquisitions as costs continue to skyrocket; and discussed the importance of measuring the success of those investments across multiple platforms and stakeholders. Kerry Bradshaw from Horizon Sports and Experiences spoke about the value of the “cultural reverb” and afterglow of live events and the importance of measuring it alongside more traditional performance metrics. It was a really illuminating conversation! – Cathy Rasenberger, President, Rasenberger Media
Watch. Want. Buy: The Promise of Shoppable TV
Shoppable formats are a powerful tool for brands to use to reach audience across content categories – from shoppable video to CTV. When brands act with intentionality, it allows them to seamlessly integrate their products or services into premium content experiences and ultimately drive measurable, full-funnel results. – Julie Haleluk- Global Head of Growth, Amazon Shopping Videos, Amazon Ads
CTV in 2026: Local at the Center of Streaming’s Next Chapter
Premion’s Daniel Spinosa discussed a number of interesting topics during our panel. He took his time walking the audience through the latest trends and challenges facing local advertisers, the role curation plays as SMBs invest in CTV, Premion’s efforts in the live sports programmatic arena, and brand safety and transparency concerns amongst local advertisers. He also gave the audience a preview of some of the services Premion will be focused on heading into 2026. Overall it was an informative and enlightening conversation. – R. Thomas Umstead, President, Umstead Productions
