The TV upfronts may still be a fixture in the industry calendar, but their influence is shrinking. As streaming viewership continues to rise and more households opt for connected TV (CTV) over traditional channels, advertisers are shifting dollars away from fixed linear commitments. Even more, they’re gravitating towards the reach, efficiency, and flexibility offered by programmatic buying. The clear new winner in this evolving landscape? Programmatic connected TV.
Total CTV ad spending is projected to grow 16.8% in 2025, reaching $33.48 billion (though that growth could become stagnant this year due to tariffs set in place by the Trump Administration). And within that growth, programmatic CTV is a particularly dominant force: More than 90% of both display and video ad spending on CTV will be transacted programmatically in 2025. This shift reflects how advertisers are increasingly embracing ad-supported streaming environments and dynamic, data-driven buying models.
“The biggest change to the way that brands are approaching TV buying now is the flexibility,” says Christina Fortuna, Director of Media Investment at Basis. “With the upfronts, brands used to have to commit a large part of their budget to linear placements early on. With programmatic CTV, they can pivot quickly, adjusting strategy as they go or reacting to market changes in real time.”
In today’s landscape, TV is no longer a locked-in, ‘set it and forget it’ buy. Programmatic CTV puts advertisers in control, with the flexibility to pivot, optimize, and scale on demand. By leaning into this flexibility, leveraging AI, prioritizing brand safety, and embracing new measurement solutions, teams can maximize the programmatic connected TV advertising opportunity in 2025 and beyond.
As programmatic CTV continues to evolve, artificial intelligence is pushing rapid innovation in the space. “While AI has long powered programmatic advertising, recent advancements are enhancing its impact on programmatic CTV specifically,” says Fortuna. “It’s not only driving improved efficiency in both bidding and optimization, but also in contextual targeting and relevancy.”
Historically, the metadata associated with programming on streaming TV has been very broad. Advertisers could see the genre of a TV show, but couldn’t tell if the sentiment was more serious or comedic. “Recent advances in AI are allowing teams to dig deeper into the metadata, providing richer insights around episodes, specific topics mentioned within a show, and visual scenes within the frame. AI is giving advertisers a broader range of contextual targeting within the programmatic CTV space, allowing ads to be more personalized and relevant,” says Fortuna.
For example, providers like IRIS.TV now enable the use of AI-enriched segmenting on programmatic CTV inventory based on the content’s actual context, helping advertisers serve ads that align more precisely with what viewers are watching. And this precision matters: One study found that consumers pay nearly four times more attention to ads that are hyper-relevant to the content on screen. And compared to standard demographic-based targeting, AI-powered contextual ads delivered 300% higher aided brand recall and twice the unaided brand recall.
Additionally, solutions like Peer39 now offer more granular content-level reporting that goes beyond identifying just the app where the ad appeared. “For instance, a programmatic media buyer who previously saw only a broad category like ‘Sports’ in their reports can now access deeper insights—such as the specific sport being played, the teams involved, and even the location of the game,” says Fortuna. This more specific reporting can help teams optimize their programmatic CTV placements and maximize their spending.
As programmatic CTV continues to mature, so too do the tools and strategies available to protect brand safety. This is especially critical in the programmatic space, where automated buying at scale introduces new complexities and potential risks around ad placement. Considering this, the same AI-powered contextual targeting that allows brands to reach audiences with greater precision can support brand safety by empowering greater control over where ads are placed and what types of content they appear alongside.
Focusing on premium programmatic inventory also gives advertisers more control over where their CTV ads appear, making them all the more relevant and impactful for audiences. “In 2025, we’re seeing an increase in activity in the custom PMP space for programmatic CTV buys,” says Fortuna. “Advertisers are refining their inventory sources for programmatic buys to create curated, approved inventory lists—for example, teams can work with supply-side providers (SSPs) to include or exclude certain publishers or verticals based on a client’s specific needs.”
The key? Partner with platforms that work closely with their SSPs to ensure a clean, trusted inventory pool.
Accurate measurement and attribution have long been a challenge in the programmatic CTV space, but providers and measurement partners have made some significant strides to address these gaps.
“Before, we were backed into metrics like reach or completion rate, which don’t tell the full story,” Fortuna says. “With so many brands relying on last-touch attribution models, CTV rarely got credit—it would be search or social instead. That created a feedback loop for investment. But with more sophisticated measurement solutions available, it’s easier to demonstrate the full value of programmatic CTV.”
Some partners now offer QR code integrations to track programmatic CTV impact, while others have expanded their offerings to include outcome-based metrics like incremental lift, brand lift, and brand sentiment. Ultimately, maximizing programmatic CTV measurement in 2025 comes down to choosing the right partners and evaluating which metrics align with campaign goals. With better visibility into impact, advertisers can optimize with confidence, prove the value of programmatic CTV investment, and unlock the full potential of the channel.
Programmatic CTV offers advertisers the big screen, lean-in viewing of traditional linear TV as well as the flexibility, precision, and real-time optimization inherent to programmatic technology. By leveraging advancements in AI-driven contextual targeting and reporting, implementing a strong brand safety plan, and embracing new measurement solutions, advertisers can make the most of programmatic CTV advertising.
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Looking for even more insights on the state of CTV advertising in 2025? In our recent webinar, Mastering CTV: Strategies to Maximize Impact in 2025, Comscore’s Becca Marco joins Basis’ Noor Naseer to break down the latest trends, evolutions, and strategies to help advertisers maximize the channel in 2025 and beyond.
