The Trade Desk announced that it has developed Ventura, a new streaming TV operating system addressing issues including frustrating user experiences, inefficient advertising supply chains, and content conflicts-of-interest. The Trade Desk touts benefits with Ventura including:
· A more intuitive, engaging user experience, including cross-platform content discovery, personalization, subscription management, and ultimately fewer (more relevant) ads.
· A cleaner supply chain for streaming TV advertising, minimizing supply chain hops and costs.
· Incorporating advances such as OpenPath and Unified ID 2.0 (UID2), Ventura will enable advertisers to value and price ad impressions across all streaming platforms more accurately, while finding relevant audiences with greater precision.

“We’re at a point in the evolution of streaming TV where we must ensure the supply chain of streaming TV advertising is competitive and transparent, so advertisers can maximize campaign performance, publishers can fund this new golden age of TV, and consumers have a better streaming TV ad experience,” said Jeff Green, CEO and Founder, The Trade Desk. “This innovation has to come in the OS, and it has to come from a company that brings the objectivity of not owning any streaming TV content. At The Trade Desk, all we want is a fair marketplace, where supply chain costs are minimized, and advertiser trust can thrive.”

One reason Disney+’s integration of Hulu is working is because of the services’ complementary programming, notes Parrot Analytics’ new Streaming Report Card. Hulu provides more general entertainment and female skewing content versus Disney+’s young male centric offerings. TV programming commands a significantly higher share of audience demand in the US on Hulu than movies, while movies command a higher share than TV on Disney+. And Hulu boasts a significantly higher share of non-English programming than Disney+. As for 4Q24, Parrot says once Disney’s buyout of Comcast’s stake in Hulu is completed, the company “must decide if it wants to invest the resources necessary to position the vMVPD to compete with YouTube TV or if it should be shuttered to focus on ESPN’s forthcoming OTT offering.”

“In today’s fragmented TV landscape, it’s more challenging than ever for advertisers to efficiently and confidently reach intended audiences,” said Tim Myers, Executive Director for Go Addressable. “Addressable TV that is powered by deterministic data is a powerful tool that not only makes media buying more effective and brand-safe for advertisers but ensures an optimal experience for viewers in terms of frequency and relevancy of the ads they receive.”

Advertising units running adjacent to news content, including polarizing topics, deliver high engagement without harming brand perception, according to a study from Daily Mail in partnership with Lumen. A survey of US consumers found:
· Half of users are likely to engage with polarizing news content.
· One in three users are likely to respond positively to brands advertised alongside crime, political, or scandalous news.
· Over 80% of users believe that advertising around polarizing content won’t negatively impact brand perception.

“Millions of people come across a Daily Mail headline over the course of a day and our research proves that brand recall amongst our loyal readership isn’t affected by what may be on the homepage or on our TikTok feed,” said Linda Villani, Chief Revenue Officer.

Netflix has been hit with a lawsuit over the streaming glitches that occurred during the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. The streamer “delivered the first punch of the night, to its customers, with unrelenting ‘buffering’ and blocked coverage,” alleges a class action complaint filed on Monday. Netflix has reported there were 65 million live concurrent streams and 108 million total live viewers tuning in for the fight around the world.

Cowshed Collective is producing a second season of YouTube-originated reality series “Inside” for Netflix alongside The Sidemen. The 7 part-series is set to premiere globally in early 2025.

“A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” will be back for a second season. Netflix, the BBC and producer ZDFneo ordered a six-part second run of the series based on the YA A Good Girl’s Guide books by Holly Jackson.

Impact Network, a home for Black family entertainment, has greenlit its first original scripted series, workplace comedy “Highly Favored.” “’Highly Favored’ is just the beginning of our investment in original programming and our promise to give audiences authentic family-oriented content they won’t get anywhere else,” said Royal W. Jackson, EVP, Impact Network and series co-executive producer.

Big Bad Boo Studios gave the official greenlight for season two of animated action-adventure series “Galapagos X.” Commissioning partners TVOKids, SRC Radio-Canada, Knowledge Kids, and TFO have ordered another 26 11-minute episodes of the time-travel show.

Seven actors have been added to the cast of Peacock’s upcoming “The Office” series: Duane Shepard Sr. (“The Conners”), Allan Havey (“Loot”), Nate Jackson (“Young Rock”), Mo Welch (“Kwaczala”), Nancy Lenehan (“The Boys”), Molly Ephraim (“A League of Their Own”), and Tracy Letts (“Saturday Night Live”). The comedy focuses on workers at a dying Midwestern newspaper.

Newsmax has re-signed James Rosen to a multi-year contract to remain as the network’s Chief White House Correspondent.

“Kids Baking Championship” returns to Food Network on Monday, January 6 at 8p for an animal-inspired season. Look for fluffy, furry and feathery friends to drop in to the kitchen.

Comedic drama series “Good Cop/Bad Cop” premieres on The CW on Wednesday, February 19 at 9p. Leighton Meester and Luke Cook star as sibling detectives.

Documentary “The Honey Trap: A True Story of Love, Lies and the FBI” premieres Friday, December 6 on Paramount+ with Showtime and on air at 10p. The film follows the infamous Berlin rapper Denis Cuspert aka Deso Dogg and his journey from artist to MMA fighter to ISIS recruiter.

Data standards company Claravine has partnered with technology consulting company Slalom for the Marketing Taxonomy Assessment, designed to help brands identify gaps in their existing campaign taxonomies. “Enterprises face constant challenges and market conditions with their taxonomy and metadata across multiple marketing ecosystems,” said Vanya Jakovljevic, VP, Channel Partnerships, Claravine. “Our partnership with Slalom addresses a critical need for brands, enabling them to establish strong data standards and unlock the full potential of marketing investments.”

Hemisphere Media Group and Roku have launched FAST channel “Todo Novelas, Más Pasiones” on The Roku Channel in the US and Mexico, offering telenovelas from around the world.

TV5Monde, the French-language entertainment network, has launched its first FAST channel in the US. TV5Monde Voyage, subtitled in English, is part of the Sling Freestream platform.

Barcelona-based Titan OS is teaming with FIFA+ to launch the FIFA+ FAST channel for European audiences. The collaboration will make FIFA+’s premium programming, including live streams, highlights and originals, available to more than 9 million viewers across Europe on Philips smart TVs powered by Titan OS, as well as select Sony’s Android TVs.

ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” on November 18 drew 17 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes. The game joins last season’s Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl rematch as the two most-watched “MNF” Week 11 games in the ESPN era (2006 – present).

Telemundo’s broadcast of the73rd Miss Universe pageant set a new record for the network last Saturday, delivering 243 million engagements across television, digital, Peacock and social platforms, nearly doubling (+96%) the total engagement delivered by the 72nd edition in 2023.

Viewers of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” apparently didn’t approve of the hosts’ meeting with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago to “restart communications.” According to Nielsen data, 56 minutes after Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzeninski shared news of their trip, viewership dropped 17%, from 839,000 to 694,000. Among A25-54, viewership dropped by 38%.

Today’s Trivia Question
Who killed Bryce on “13 Reasons Why” (2017-20)? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four answers per time zone.)