In the first of our Innovator Spotlight interviews from our new Special Report, “The State Of CTV Advertising”, we sat down with TiVo Ads’ Craig Chinn to discuss the growing importance of home-screen advertising, the challenges of reaching audiences across linear and streaming, and how programmatic buying and viewing data can help advertisers navigate an increasingly fragmented TV ecosystem. You can download the report for free thanks to TiVo Ads and our other sponsors.
“The biggest disconnect is that advertisers still tend to plan television in channels and platforms, while consumers simply watch television,” notes Craig Chinn, SVP, Global Advertising Solutions at TiVo Ads. “A household might move from live sports to a FAST channel, open an SVOD service, return to linear television. To the consumer, that is one viewing experience. To the advertising industry, those interactions can still sit in completely different planning, buying and measurement systems.”
ALAN WOLK (AW): For an advertiser, what are the advantages of an independent CTV offering that connects OEMs and Pay TV operators?
CRAIG CHINN (CC): For advertisers, independence creates more choice and, importantly, another path to the viewer.
The TV ecosystem has become increasingly concentrated around a relatively small number of platforms that often control the technology stack, content and data — much of it accessible only within their own walled gardens.
TiVo approaches the ecosystem from a fundamentally different position. We have decades of experience helping people discover what to watch across different content sources, services and screens, rather than steering them toward a single streaming service or content library. That independence allows us to connect audiences, content and advertising across the broader TV ecosystem.
That matters for advertisers because the home screen is becoming one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in television. It is the point where linear, streaming and on-demand viewing come together and where the viewer is actively deciding what to do next.
For example, TiVo OS — our independent operating system — alongside our technology powering independent Pay TV operators, gives advertisers access to valuable home-screen moments that might otherwise remain untapped. For us, independence is ultimately about creating a more open TV ecosystem, giving advertisers more ways to reach and understand audiences beyond the boundaries of individual walled gardens.
AW: TiVo Ads operates across both linear and streaming. Where do you see the biggest disconnect between how advertisers plan television campaigns and how people actually watch?
CC: The biggest disconnect is that advertisers still tend to plan television in channels and platforms, while consumers simply watch television. A household might move from live sports to a FAST channel, open an SVOD service, return to linear television. To the consumer, that is one viewing experience. To the advertising industry, those interactions can still sit in completely different planning, buying and measurement systems.
TiVo can engage consumers across different moments within that journey. Our Interactive Program Guide (IPG) banners provide a native experience while viewers are browsing the guide. At the other end of the discovery experience, our Home Page Hero Ads deliver high-impact visibility from the moment the TV is switched on.
The challenge is that consumers don’t experience linear, CTV, home-screen and other video formats in separate silos — but advertisers often still plan and buy them that way. Video is video from the viewer’s perspective. If we consider CTV a full-attention video environment, then the home screen should be part of that same CTV video advertising strategy, not treated as a separate channel.
When these formats are planned independently, advertisers risk fragmenting what is actually a single consumer journey — and creating a real reach and frequency problem. A campaign may show enormous apparent reach across multiple media plans, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is reaching more people. It may simply be reaching the same heavy TV viewers again and again.
The goal is to move beyond simply asking, “Where can I buy more impressions?” and instead understand who has already been reached, who is still missing from the plan, and where the next impression can add the most value.
AW: Home-screen advertising reaches viewers before they have decided what to watch. What have you learned about which messages work at that point in the viewing journey and which do not?
CC: The home screen is fundamentally different from an ad break. The consumer has the remote in their hand and is actively deciding what to watch next. It is a lean-in moment rather than an interruption, so advertising has to earn attention and feel native to that discovery experience.
The strongest creative tends to be visually immediate, simple and relevant. You need a clear idea, strong branding and a reason for someone to engage. The opportunity goes well beyond traditional tune-in advertising. We are increasingly seeing brands use the home screen for product launches, awareness, consideration and action.
Our research reinforces how important that moment is becoming. In our Convergent TV World study of 170 brand and agency professionals, 31% said the CTV viewer journey begins when the television is switched on — before content playback even starts. And 67% said they plan to increase their investment in home-screen advertising over the next 12 months.
And we see that attention translate into engagement. Across TiVo Home Page Hero Ads, we are seeing video completion rates of around 98% and click-through rates in the 2–3% range.
So, for advertisers, the opportunity is much bigger than simply buying another CTV placement. It is about becoming part of the discovery experience — reaching the consumer at the very beginning of the viewing journey, before that attention becomes fragmented across apps, platforms and content.
AW: TiVo TV Audiences uses linear viewing data to extend campaigns onto CTV. How do you know whether those CTV impressions are adding reach rather than duplicating the linear audience?
CC: That is really the purpose of using viewing data in the first place. Rather than treating CTV as simply another pool of impressions, we can use deterministic TV viewing signals to understand actual viewing behavior and build audiences that can then be activated across CTV and digital environments.
The objective with TiVo TV Audiences isn't simply “more television impressions.” It's about making those impressions smarter.
The NFL is a good example. “Sports fan” can be an incredibly broad definition. Using TiVo's deterministic TV viewership data, we can create audiences based on actual viewing sessions of NFL games across national and local broadcasts. We can go from league-level audiences down to viewers of specific teams, based on observed TV viewing behavior.
That becomes particularly powerful when you think about reach. An advertiser may already have significant exposure through a national linear NFL buy. The opportunity is to use viewing intelligence to think much more deliberately about the next audience: who am I already reaching, which valuable viewers am I missing, and where can my next impression add reach rather than simply add frequency?
It also opens up use cases beyond advertisers that are already buying NFL games. A brand may want to reach verified NFL viewers around a product launch, retail promotion, or automotive campaign without necessarily buying directly into the live game itself.
Viewing behavior becomes an audience signal that can travel beyond the original content environment.
TV viewing data can make CTV an extension of an audience strategy rather than simply another source of impressions.
AW: TiVo recently opened up more of its home-screen inventory to programmatic buyers. Can you explain how that benefits ad buyers?
CC: The biggest benefit is accessibility. Historically, premium home-screen advertising has often required a more bespoke managed-service buy. Bringing more of that inventory into programmatic channels allows buyers to access a highly differentiated television environment through workflows they already use.
We have been expanding programmatic access through partners including Teads, Nexxen and OpenGlass. The idea is not to commoditise the home screen. It is to make premium home-screen experiences easier to activate.
That is important because the home screen provides something that conventional CTV inventory cannot: access to the viewer before they choose an app or piece of content. For buyers, programmatic access means CTV Native home screen ads and traditional CTV Video Ads can both be activated programmatically as part of a broader CTV strategy.
AW: The definition of the “connected screen” is expanding beyond the living room. How do you see the opportunity for advertisers to reach audiences as entertainment moves across the home, personal devices and increasingly into the car?
CC: The entertainment journey no longer begins and ends in the living room. Consumers move between screens and environments throughout the day, and increasingly that includes the connected car.
That's particularly interesting for us because TiVo sits within the broader Xperi technology ecosystem. Across Xperi, we have technology and entertainment experiences that extend from the television into the car.
From an advertising perspective, it's not about taking a TV ad and simply putting it on another screen. The context changes. The experience changes. And the way a brand should engage with someone needs to change with it.
