The Pay-TV Innovation Forum is a global research programme for senior pay-TV and content executives, developed by NAGRA and MTM, and designed to catalyse growth and innovation across the global TV industry, at a time of tremendous change and disruption.
As part of the programme, we are publishing a series of interviews with leading TV industry executives from around the world to explore their views, perspectives and experiences of innovation. In this interview, Matt Van Houten, Vice President, Product Development at Xandr Media, the advanced TV and media solutions arm of AT&T's advertising company Xandr, shares his views on how advanced TV advertising technology is reshaping the pay-TV industry.
How do you see the US pay-TV industry evolving over the next few years?
Today there are around 90M pay TV households in the US. Yes, I do foresee connected TV and over-the-top continuing to gain traction among consumers, but I don't think that predicts the death of traditional TV by any means. Demographics, marketing bundles and other factors will make set-top box viewing stickier than many predict. Whether the number of pay TV households declines and then normalizes at 30M, 50M, 60M households... no one really knows at this point.
Rather than concentrating on subscriber numbers, however, I am more interested in the story told by our TV advertising revenues, which are growing year-on-year.
What is prompting this growth in TV advertising?
The development of new technologies, such as addressable TV advertising, have helped TV operators increase the value of their ad inventory, driving growth across the sector. Traditional TV advertising serves the same ad to the total broadcast audience, offering great reach and economies of scale. The rise of digital advertising over the past decade, however, has changed advertiser expectations about the degree of targetability and accountability they can expect. Digital ads can be matched to highly specific audience segments and can be measured for effectiveness against granular KPIs such as viewability, click-through rate, and conversion rate.
In the last few years, AT&T have built a technology stack to bring the best capabilities of digital advertising to the TV experience. Instead of only using broad-based demographic targeting by age and gender, we can now offer buyers highly segmented target audiences. Furthermore, we provide cross-screen solutions, allowing buyers to reach audiences ontheir TVs, mobiles and laptops - and coordinate attribution data across each.
What challenges do pay-TV operators face in developing advanced TV advertising technologies?
Advanced advertising technologies require significant data resources. To offer advertising buyers highly specific target audiences, pay-TV operators need to have vast user bases, and significant insights. Generating visibility into effectiveness requires access to insights on what viewers do after watching an ad. Brands dont want to know that a viewer saw the ad, brands want to know what it made them do. As an MVPD with a vertically aligned distribution strategy, we can unlock more value in TV because we have data on every audience engagement, down to each click of the remote, in a privacy-safe manner. Furthermore, besides being the largest pay-TV provider in the US, we are the second largest mobile phone provider and the third largest broadband provider, so we have a tremendous number of customer interactions available to help connect those dots.
Technology, data, distribution and premium content are important factors to help advertisers drive business outcomes and to create more relevant advertising for the consumer.
How do you see these technologies impacting the shape of the TV advertising industry in the future?
What is going to differentiate pay-TV operators in the future are the insights and attribution analytics they can provide. Developing new advertising technologies will require resources and scale - I think we will see significant consolidation across the market to achieve this. In the future, we might have 3-5 major marketplaces for purchasing inventory, and it will be much harder for individual cable networks with limited audiences to command premium value.
Addressable TV advertising has helped drive double-digit growth in the TV industry year-on-year, but there is still a long way to go. We are the market leader in terms of scale, with almost 16 million addressable households, but compared to an upfront buy, which might typically be reaching 900-100 million households on a cable network, it's still small. We need to scale those addressable audiences, which was the underpinning of our effort to expand reach with Altice and Frontier.
Europe Stories
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...
14/05/2026
At Spotify, we're focused on making every listening experience feel intentio...
14/05/2026
Spotify recently welcomed songwriters, artists, executives, and music students t...
14/05/2026
New articulations, ostinatos, Motion Scoring Articulation Sets & more
Sonuscore's flagship cinematic string library has just been treated to a significa...
14/05/2026
World-class studio opens on T rkiye's Aegean coast
P r Recording & Residence have announced their official opening, introducing a new world-class reside...
14/05/2026
Now supports channel layouts up to 9.1.6
Nugen Audio have just released an update for their AI-powered dialogue intelligibility and compliance tool. Set to ...
14/05/2026
New recordings & one-key chord tool
UVI have just announced the release of Orchestral Suite 2, a ground-up redesign of their all-in-one symphonic orchestra ...
14/05/2026
Two new arrivals & expanded factory content
Rob Papen's all-encompassing plug-in and virtual instrument collection has just been treated to another upda...
14/05/2026
Embed QR codes into DAW sessions
FSK Audio's latest plug-in doesn't process audio, but serves as an organisational tool that allows QR codes to be e...
14/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz transforms spectrum complexity into situational awareness and ef...
14/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Quantum Systems join forces to redefine EW and C-UAS-enabled...
14/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases STANAG aligned ARDRONIS Counter UAS capability at NATO...
14/05/2026
Code of Silence has won the BAFTA for Best Drama Series at Sunday night's ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall.
The series, starring Rose Ayling-Ellis and w...
14/05/2026
Vivid Broadcast was embracing remote production long before it became the industry norm. Now, with Calrec's True Control 2.0-enabled Argo M and Type R conso...
14/05/2026
What can I watch on UKTV and stream on U this week?
This week on UKTV and the free streaming service U, viewers can watch a range of new and returning programm...
14/05/2026
The high-stakes chase thriller from Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated writer Matt Charm...
14/05/2026
Back From The Brink airs Sunday 17 May and Sunday 24 May at 6.30pm on RT One an...
13/05/2026
13 May 2026
VEON Delivers Strong Start to 2026 1Q26: Revenue 17.0%, EBITDA 17...
13/05/2026
Thousands of props donated from Skys longest-running original seriesWednesday 13 May 2026
How a neon windmill from A League of Their Own ended up in a dogs'...
13/05/2026
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 13, 2026 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that I...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
FOX Announces Schedule for 2026-27 Season FOX'S POWERFUL NEW SERIES PIPELINE FUELS A BREAKOUT SEASON WITH RETURNING HITS AND BOLD NEW STORYTELLING ACROSS ...
12/05/2026
Customer demand for data continues to grow in the first quarter of 2026 at Magya...
12/05/2026
The latest drama underscores Sky's continued investment in regional production and Welsh creative talent.Tuesday 12 May 2026
Wales takes the spotlight in S...
11/05/2026
As Eurovision fans gear up to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the iconic song ...
11/05/2026
Pela primeira vez na hist ria, o Brasil figura entre os oito maiores mercados de...
11/05/2026
New desktop instrument focused on tactile performance
Bastl Instruments have announced the Kalimba, a new desktop instrument that combines physical modellin...
11/05/2026
Compact sampling workstation gains new features
1010music have announced the blackbox 2, a new version of their compact standalone sampler designed for DAWl...
11/05/2026
Performance-focused sequencer with microtonal control
Berlin-based KOMA Elektronik have announced Monoplex, a new 42HP Eurorack sequencer designed for hands...
11/05/2026
Boasts wireless control from mobile devices
The latest iteration of IK Multimedia's compact amp and effects modelling pedal expands on the capabilities ...
11/05/2026
Spans traditional orchestral and experimental sounds
Sonora Cinematic have recently released the third instalment in their Transfigured Orchestra series, de...
11/05/2026
Our exhibition coverage
Watch all our SUPERBOOTH 2026 video coverage in one place. Check back to this page regularly as we will be updating with more video ...
11/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, is participating in the Equity Forum Ge...
11/05/2026
Bounteous Acquires Cartesian to Accelerate Enterprise AI
May 11, 2026
Business Assurance
News
Acquisition enhances deep data and analytics capabil...
11/05/2026
11 May 2026
VEON Shareholders Re-elect Board and Chairman, Reaffirming Confiden...
11/05/2026
Fox Corporation Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2026 Financial Results NEW YORK, NY, May 11, 2026 - Fox Corporation (Nasdaq: FOXA, FOX; FOX or the Company ) t...
11/05/2026
Arvato Systems Becomes a Member of InsurLab Germany
Collaboration in the insurance industrys leading innovation network
G tersloh - Arvato Systems has joine...
11/05/2026
Pirate Predator uncovers new information from victims and survivors of abuse on ...
10/05/2026
RT ALL-IRELAND DRAMA FESTIVAL WINNERS ANNOUNCED DURING GALA AWARDS STREAMED LIVE ON RTE.IE/CULTURE
Kilmeen Drama Group hailing from Rossmore, Co. Cork Scoops ...
09/05/2026
New desktop instrument focused on tactile performance
Bastl Instruments have announced Kalimba, a new desktop instrument that combines physical modelling, F...
09/05/2026
Compact sampling workstation gains new features
1010music have announced blackbox 2, a new version of their compact standalone sampler designed for DAWless ...
The Pay-TV Innovation Forum is a global research programme for senior pay-TV and content executives, developed by NAGRA and MTM, and designed to catalyse growth and innovation across the global TV industry, at a time of tremendous change and disruption.
