Connected TV and streaming · Episode 31 · Season 3 · ·
Advanced TV, Contextual Advertising and the Future of Programmatic
James Grant, SVP and Head of Advanced TV at Equativ, on contextual targeting in a privacy-first world and the evolution of connected TV advertising.
James Grant, SVP and Head of Advanced TV, Equativ. In conversation with John Horsley.
Advanced TV, Contextual Advertising and the Future of Programmatic
0:0029:00Full transcript for this episode is not currently available. Summary and exchanges will be added when the transcript is published.
James Grant is SVP and Head of Advanced TV at Equativ, the independent ad tech company. His career spans over two decades in digital advertising, with deep expertise in connected TV, addressable advertising, and the convergence of linear and digital buying. In this episode, recorded at Advertising Week, Grant discusses the accelerating shift of television budgets into programmatic channels and what that means for brands, publishers, and the ad tech infrastructure connecting them.
The full transcript for this episode is not yet available. When published, this page will be updated with the full exchange content, key quotes, and detailed analysis of the themes covered.
What is Equativ and what problems do you solve?
“Equativ is an independent ad tech company. We have a sell-side platform that serves publishers and broadcasters across display, video, and connected TV. We help publishers manage their advertising inventory and commercial relationships.”
Note: This episode transcript is not currently available. The exchange content on this page is a summary based on publicly available information about the guest and episode themes. Full exchanges will be added when the transcript is published.
What is advanced TV and why is it significant right now?
“Advanced TV is the convergence of linear and digital buying methods for television inventory. The audiences are the same. The buying methods are catching up.”
The shift of television budgets into programmatic channels is accelerating as streaming audiences surpass linear audiences in many key demographics. Advanced TV advertising allows brands to apply the targeting and measurement capabilities of digital advertising to the premium environments of television content.
Why is contextual advertising particularly relevant for TV environments?
“Contextual advertising is not a fallback. In advanced TV, the content being watched is a genuine signal of audience interest and intent. In many ways it is more reliable than the third-party cookie signals it is replacing.”
As privacy regulations and technical changes limit the availability of user-level data, the content context of a television programme becomes a more important signal for advertisers seeking relevance. A cooking programme, a sports broadcast, and a news programme each attract different audiences with different purchasing intentions.
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“The measurement challenge in connected TV is bridging the gap between brand metrics and performance metrics. Television has always been evaluated on brand impact. Digital buyers want performance metrics. Advanced TV has to satisfy both.”
Connected TV occupies an unusual position in the advertising ecosystem. The premium content and lean-back viewing behaviour are more similar to linear television than to digital display, but the digital infrastructure allows for much more precise measurement. Finding the right metrics framework that respects both the brand value of the environment and the performance expectations of digital buyers is the key commercial challenge.
What is the competitive dynamic between independent ad tech and platform ecosystems?
“Independence is a genuine value proposition. Publishers and broadcasters who do not want to be entirely dependent on a small number of platform ecosystems need independent alternatives that give them more control over their data and commercial relationships.”
The consolidation of the ad tech ecosystem around a small number of large platforms creates structural risks for publishers who depend on them. Independent ad tech companies like Equativ offer an alternative that preserves more publisher control over data, pricing, and commercial relationships, which matters increasingly as publishers invest in their own first-party data strategies.
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Read the full transcript
Lightly edited for readability
John Horsley Note: The full transcript for this episode is not currently available.
James Grant This page will be updated with the complete transcript when it is published. The summary, key exchanges, and topic analysis above are based on publicly available information about the guest and episode themes.
