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| Tuesday, September 22, 2026 |
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Good morning! Here’s what you need to know today:
- CTV Ads Perform Better Than They Used To – But Don’t Forget The Creative
- Paramount And California Announce A Settlement
- CNN Sues The White House For Press Access
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| Partner content |
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Philo Ads is an innovative and effective way to reach CTV audiences.
Philo Ads offers scalable, brand-safe campaigns built for performance. Ready to capture the attention of our highly engaged audiences? Launch your next campaign with Philo Ads today!
Visit ads.philo.tv to learn more.
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Performance CTV Is All The Rage, But The Mid-Funnel Still Matters
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By Victoria McNally
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sr
Jenny Wall is a veteran of the TV and CTV industry but tends to specialize in what she calls “disruptive” companies. She worked at HBO when cable was still new, at Netflix and Hulu when streaming TV was nascent and she spent the last three years at VideoAmp, one of several companies trying to challenge the standards for TV measurement.
Now Wall has a new role as chief growth officer of Swayable, a creative optimization and research company that uses a combination of AI-driven algorithms and human-led consumer panels to test advertising effectiveness.
Being able to bridge that gap between creative and performance is more crucial than ever for the digital advertising crowd, she said.
“We got so obsessed with programmatic that we kind of forgot there’s this creative in the middle and the top of the funnel that you need,” said Wall. “You can’t just go to the bottom of the funnel; you need to create the demand.”
Swayable’s goal is to help marketers create that demand, said Wall. The company also recently hired Brian Lawrence as chief revenue officer, which she said will establish a “three-legged stool” of success with her as the brand marketing lead and with CEO James Slezak as the research lead.
I spoke with Wall about where she thinks the TV and CTV advertising industry is heading and what role AI has to play in that trajectory.
Streamlined: What do you think are the best use cases for AI within TV advertising?
JENNY WALL: I have to be honest – I’m a little scared of the AI creative that’s out there. I’m really nervous that it’s going to bring down that creativity that I’ve always been a part of my entire life.
That said, I think the tools themselves help us get to the answer faster. I have several agents myself, but I’m not at a point where I’m going to deploy an agent to buy media right now for me. What I am going to do is use our tools to help us make better decisions.
I’m still a huge believer in talking to real people. A brand is not a logo; it’s not a color; it’s not a tagline. It’s a gut feeling. Creatives and marketers still understand that you need to talk to real people. So, I think that the role AI plays is going to be more about giving us options for decisions that will create efficiency and better outcomes for both the brand, the consumer and the advertiser.
One of the biggest trends I’ve seen a lot of publishers talking about is content analysis, using AI to analyze a scene and make ad-buying decisions based on that – showing kitchen appliance ads after a kitchen scene, for example. Do you see that as a fad or do you think it’s going to become more workable over time?
I think it’s going to become more workable, but I think it’s in its infancy. The example you gave seems like it would make sense, but it’s still a person watching. So, if that person isn’t in the market for a kitchen appliance at that time, then, to me, that’s wasted dollars.
We have so much data right now that we need to just be careful of how we analyze that data and not make really quick decisions based on it yet.
What do you think are the biggest challenges that TV and especially CTV advertisers have to tackle right now?
I think it’s still measurement. And I sound like a broken record, but it’s proving outcomes. Every advertiser wants to know: Did what I place turn into sales? With attribution methods, like mixed media modeling, that’s usually after the fact. You’re not optimizing in real time. You’re looking backward. CTV needs to help prove that being within the customer journey is going to provide lift versus just programmatic.
And then, I also just think the pricing models are still a little out of whack in regard to digital versus streaming. You have a very low CPM on some digital, and then, you know, Netflix comes out and Amazon comes out, and you’ve got a $30 or $50 CPM. It’s really proving that, to me, those are not digital. That’s TV, and I think bucketing CTV into digital actually underpriced the value.
There’s been a much bigger focus on performance with TV lately. Is that all hype, or are CTV advertising platforms actually able to demonstrate better outcomes than they used to?
Oh, 100%. With clean rooms, you actually can create an ID graph that ties media to outcomes, which I think is the biggest change in the last three years.
I think media companies still are bucketing things into brand and performance, and it used to be that brand had all the money. Now, performance is getting the big spotlight on it, because it’s at the bottom of the funnel where you can actually really see the sales. CTV still fits in this middle part for me in most cases, but they have the data to match identities to outcomes.
Looking ahead, what excites you about the CTV advertising landscape and where Swayable fits into that ecosystem?
I see the most opportunity of using AI in companies like Swayable is in working directly with brands and working directly with the people that are buying the media and making the creative.
CTV is where everything has been moved. The only thing that’s keeping the broadcast table alive is sports, and that’s changing quite rapidly with Amazon getting Thursday Night Football and Netflix getting the Christmas NFL game. If we can harness getting the CPMs right and getting the targeting right, that mid-funnel is going to become just as or more important than programmatic.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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| Partner content |
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Forward 2026: A Forum for the Future of TV Advertising—Oct. 29, NYC
Join us at Forward 2026, where Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman will deliver the keynote and marketing leaders from MANSCAPED, Liquid I.V., Avocado, and Jones Road Beauty will share how they’re using TV to reach new audiences, measure impact, and drive real business growth.
Attendance is free, but space is limited.
RSVP Now
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HBO MAX’s Reddit Account Was Compromised And Used For Ad Fraud
A week ago, HBO MAX had its verified Reddit account overrun by a hacker group, which eluded notice for two days while it ran 108 different ad permutations targeting an unknown number of Redditors.
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CTV’s Transparency Gap: Why Better Show-Level Data Still Can’t Buy You Show-Level Control
AdExchanger Guest Columnist
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Scaled show-level optimization is not a standard product. In many cases, that functionality is still in the early stages of development.
Continue Reading ▷ |
| In The News |
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Paramount Skydance’s path to owning Warner Bros. Discovery is clearer now. The studio reached a settlement in the merger-blocking antitrust lawsuit with California and 11 other states, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
- Anonymous sources told Bloomberg that the settlement was more or less determined by California, which has led the charge against Paramount over the last few months. It also faced the brunt of Paramount’s ire, too. The company threatened to leave California if a settlement was not reached before October, which could have lost the state more than 57,000 full-time jobs and up to $21 billion in annual economic output.
- Four other states – New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Minnesota – held out long enough to secure independent editorial boards for CBS and CNN. However, they ultimately conceded on the grounds that an expensive legal battle would not be possible without California’s involvement. Similarly, the Writers Guild of America also settled its own lawsuit, saying it could not afford its own trial “with no backing from government enforcers.”
- Per The Hollywood Reporter, The deal includes a mandate that Paramount commit to releasing 30 films a year in theaters, and that pay-TV carriage deals still be negotiated as two separate companies. Paramount will also avoid having to sell its cable channels, The Wall Street Journal reported, and will spend an additional $1.5 billion on film production over the next five years, according to The New York Times. Notably, there are no structural remedies, something that California Attorney General Rob Bonta had previously insisted on.
- Not surprisingly, the deal’s opponents are upset. In a press statement, the Block the Merger coalition called the settlement “a bad deal for the future of film, entertainment, independent journalism, and a strong democracy in this country.” The organization also promised to continue fighting against media consolidation, even if “this one battle may be over.”
Mr. Smith goes to… cable television? CNN, MS Now and Politico filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging President Trump’s recent decision to revoke all three outlets’ White House press credentials.
- The lawsuit argues that the ban is a “direct assault on the First Amendment” and that government officials are not allowed to revoke press credentials “on a whim – with no notice, no process, and no warning – as the President did here.”
- The plaintiffs have also hired Ted Boutrous, a renowned First Amendment rights lawyer who represented CNN when the first Trump administration revoked reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass in 2018. He was reinstated a few weeks later and the suit was dropped.
- Meanwhile, a coalition of press freedom organizations has already called on Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, who’ll soon own CNN, to back the network’s legal challenge. “We need you to make clear that you stand with the reporters, photographers, camera operators, and other journalists you seek to employ, even when their reporting angers the president,” the open letter read.
In response, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and even Fox News have suspended their White House pool coverage in solidarity.
- CNN was meant to be the designated TV pool provider on Monday, but was suspended in accordance with Trump’s Friday ban announcement.
- “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” all five pool members announced in a joint statement. “No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
- The consequences of Trump’s decision are already beginning to unfold. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new White House helipad that day had no audio from the press pool, meaning the president’s speech was completely drowned out by the sounds of Marine One behind him.
No such thing as an ad-free lunch. Disney+ may begin to show more ads on the premium subscriber plans, even though the tier is marketed as having “no ads.”
- London-based gaming website Dexerto first noticed the change in the UK subscriber agreement, which now states that “all Service Plans may include: (i) promotional content, (ii) sponsorships, and (iii) advertisements before/after playback of Content and in channels, live/as-live, special events, and any third-party services content.”
- In other words, ads can now appear before and after content on both the basic and premium plans, although not in the kid-friendly “Junior Mode.”
- This is a change from the previous subscriber agreement, which acknowledged that ad-free tiers might contain “limited” promotional content related to bundles, product integration or sponsorship messaging.
- Disney’s not alone in showing ads to ad-free tiers, here; Netflix also includes them during its live programming regardless of subscriber plans. But Disney+ has also faced more trouble with churn than Netflix has. The service lost 1.7 million subscribers when Jimmy Kimmel was suspended from “Kimmel Live!” last year, and lost more when its prices increased a few weeks later.
- The Takeaway: Still, the new agreement may indicate that Disney is making enough money in ad revenue to justify alienating some of its ad-free subscribers.
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| STATISTICALLY SPEAKING |
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According to the Wesleyan Media Project, Ohio is already the most expensive midterm US Senate race this year. In the past month, political groups have spent over $45 million dollars in the state on TV ads alone.
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| New & Returning Series |
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For sneak peeks, check out Cynopsis Trailer Park.
Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in “Brothers”
Apple TV’s latest comedy series “Brothers” is premiering on Sept. 23, starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in a fictionalized version of their quest to find out if they might be related.
“Stress Test,” a docuseries from Canadian channel TVO featuring comedian Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, premieres on Oct. 7. It will also be available to stream on the TVO Docs YouTube, website and smart TV app.
TODAY’S PREMIERES
CBS: “Judge Judy: Unfiltered, Unforgettable” at 8 p.m.
Fox: “Doc” Season 3 at 9 p.m.
HBO: “Siren: The Voices of Shelley Beattie” at 9 p.m.
HGTV: “House Shock” at 9 p.m.
Netflix: “Kian’s Bizarre B&B” Season 2; “Minerva Academy”
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| In Other News |
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BBC’s “Ministry of Time” series added nine new cast members, including Ciarán Hinds (“East of Eden”), Hong Chau (“Watchmen”) and Tamara Lawrence (“Get Millie Black”). Based on the Kailene Bradley novel of the same name, the six-part series is adapted by Alice Birch (“Normal People”) and directed by Aneil Karia (“The Gold”).
From the set of “Bad Blood”
Production has begun on “Bad Blood,” a four-part drama from ITV Studios about the infected blood scandal that affected the UK between 1970-1990. The series is written by Peter Moffat (“Your Honor”) and produced by World Productions.
Whoops, never mind. Taylor Frankie Paul will not be returning to Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” for Season 7 after all. In an Instagram post on Monday, she cited bullying among her castmates and thanked “all the networks” who supported her.
Taylor Swift will receive the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors at the 2026 Video Music Awards, which air on CBS and MTV on Sept. 27. The new award recognizes musicians who have “advanced the art of visual storytelling” behind the camera, as Swift has done for many of her music videos.
Prime Video’s fifth season opener of “Thursday Night Football” did much better than last year’s, according to Amazon. The Sept. 10 game between the Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions secured an average of 18.6 million viewers, 21% more than in 2025. It was the third most-watched regular season game in Prime Video’s history.
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| TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION |
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In the Season 2 Halloween episode of “Castle,” Nathan Fillion briefly wore his old “space cowboy” costume from a previous television role as an easter egg for fans. What series was the costume from?
Email answers to Trivia@Cynopsis.com and include your name, company and city/state (don’t forget!). Only the first four correct responses from each time zone will be included.
YESTERDAY’S TRIVIA ANSWER
Which former “Cheers” (1982-1993) character reappeared the most times on “Frasier” (1993-2004) episodes? (Not including Frasier himself, of course!) Lilith Sternin, as played by Bebe Neuwirth
Congrats to: Andrew Goldman-Phanes Funding Group/NYC; Rick Dascher-Kennesaw St. University/ Atlanta, GA; Kathryn Tesoriero-WPP Media/NYC; Greg Moloznik-Focus Media 121/Lakewood Ranch, FL; John Kukla-KDFW Fox 4/Dallas-Fort Worth, TX; Creed Heilskov-ImOn Communications/Cedar Rapids, IA Rosemary Cunningham-Me TV/ Chicago, IL; Tom Boyd-WGN/Chicago, IL; Squirrel Rippley-Dark Horse Media/Tucson, AZ; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Michael Coscia/Los Angeles, CA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Sandra Mueller-KTLA/LA;
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