For streaming companies, and commercial broadcasters with VoD channels, the pause ad is a new way of targeting viewers when theyre distracted by something other than their screen, writes Operatives SVP of global sales, David Dembowski
By Contributor
Published: February 8, 2024
For streaming companies, and commercial broadcasters with VoD channels, the pause ad is a new way of targeting viewers when they're distracted by something other than their screen, writes Operative's SVP of global sales, David Dembowski
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Advertising innovation is coming to a TV near you. The latest advertising format to hit the big screen is the pause ad an ad that airs when someone has paused what they are watching. In the UK, pause ads have been on Channel 4 for years. In the US, Netflix has recently rolled out the new format while Peacock calls pause ads high-impact and unobtrusive on their website.
With any innovative format, the structure that media companies build around it is at least as important as the ad product itself. Without good processes and technology to manage new ads, it will be hard to sell or scale. There are many things that go into making a new ad product successful. Media companies need to enable sellers to easily price and package the ad format into a larger proposal. They need to easily traffic creative and manage the campaign. And, they need to report on the ad in a way that helps advertisers compare its performance against other ads in their media plan.
Incorporating pause ads into the media mix Selling advertising is not like selling shoes. Typically, if someone wants to buy shoes, they look for a pair that they like and they buy it. One product, one transaction. Advertising transactions are far more complex. An advertiser working with a streaming company like Channel 4 or Hulu is likely spending money on millions or even billions of ad impressions, targeting specific audiences and content across a number of different ad formats. Pricing needs to be negotiated, creatives need to be built, and campaigns need to be optimised continuously across these various ad formats.
Pause ads are one of a number of innovative ad types on streaming. Viewers are also seeing clickable commerce-driven ads, pinch back ads that show content in a smaller window, and even virtual product placement, ads embedded into content using AI. It's safe to assume that as media companies and advertisers expand their streaming focus, new ads will emerge.
To succeed, media companies need processes and technology in place that can expand to ingest a new format like pause ads. This means that they need an order management system that has a unified product catalogue to help sales to create larger proposals that include these ads. It also means they need revenue management that can help the ad operations team to traffic and manage the ad alongside the rest of the media buy.
Understanding the value of pause ads While pause ads give advertisers a fantastic canvas for their creative, time will tell how effective the ads are at scale. Today, advertisers are mostly still testing the ad format. One aspect that needs to be analysed is ad recall. If someone is pausing their TV, presumably, they are shifting their attention elsewhere. Perhaps they're grabbing a snack in the kitchen or responding to a text on their phone, which means they aren't going to be a captive audience for the pause ad. However, they will likely see the ad when they turn their attention back to the screen.
Having unified insights about pause ads compared to the rest of other advertising in a media buy can help advertisers learn quickly to determine how to best incorporate new formats like pause ads into their broader strategy.
What's more, media companies need to have an overview of their own performance when it comes to new formats. Understanding the pricing and demand for any new ad type is critical to create a product catalogue that is not just enticing for advertisers, but also profitable to the publisher.
Ultimately, pause ads are one of many new ad types that media companies are introducing in order to maximise their revenue from streaming. Streaming delivers more flexibility, targeting and richer insights than broadcast, so it should be easier for streaming companies to quickly learn what works and what doesn't.
However, with all of these benefits comes more complexity, and so streaming companies also need to ensure that their operations and technology supports an expanded product catalogue and more sophisticated products overall.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
Genelec announces V2.1 for Aural ID binaural headphone monitoring application posted: 29/05/2026
Aural ID 2.1 enhances binaural monitoring for stereo and ...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
For streaming companies, and commercial broadcasters with VoD channels, the pause ad is a new way of targeting viewers when theyre distracted by something other than their screen, writes Operatives SVP of global sales, David Dembowski
