Operative’s Ben Tatta on navigating ad management complexity as linear and digital converge

The media landscape is experiencing unprecedented fragmentation as traditional broadcasters push into streaming while digital platforms secure linear rights, creating new challenges for advertising operations across the industry.

This convergence has intensified rather than simplified the advertising ecosystem, according to industry executives who see more endpoints, devices, and streaming services emerging regularly. The complexity stems from broadcasters needing to manage advertising across multiple platforms while maintaining consistent measurement and workflow efficiency.

“I think if anything, it’s gotten even more fragmented because there are more endpoints, more devices like CTV in particular has matured and it’s become more challenging for broadcasters to be able to service all of those devices and have a common way of measuring them,” said Ben Tatta, chief commercial officer at Operative.

The fragmentation extends beyond technical challenges to fundamental business model shifts. Digital platforms like Apple, Amazon Prime, and Netflix have reached saturation points for traditional subscription video-on-demand and advertising-supported models, prompting them to invest heavily in securing linear rights. This creates a dynamic where digital-native companies suddenly need linear capabilities while traditional broadcasters accelerate their digital transformation.

The rebundling of streaming services

The streaming wars may be evolving toward a new phase of consolidation and bundling. After years of direct-to-consumer launches, the industry is showing signs of returning to packaged offerings, driven by consumer subscription fatigue and higher churn rates in standalone services.

Cable and broadband providers are striking deals with programming partners to bundle services like Peacock and HBO Max with broadband subscriptions, offering consumers cost savings while providing programmers with more stable distribution. This shift represents a partial return to traditional television models, albeit delivered through streaming infrastructure.

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“It’s strange because we’re going full circle,” Tatta noted. “Over the last eight years, there’s been a trend towards a la carte and direct to consumer. The challenge there obviously is you deal with a lot more churn in that environment with a direct to consumer service than you would with a conventional distribution deal.”

The bundling trend extends beyond cost considerations to user experience improvements. Universal search and guide functionality across multiple streaming services within a single interface addresses consumer frustration with content discovery across fragmented platforms. Industry data suggests viewers now spend 10 hours searching for content for every hour of actual viewing time.

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Data-driven advertising evolution

The convergence of linear and digital advertising is pushing the industry toward impression-based measurement and away from traditional ratings currencies. This shift is particularly significant for local broadcasters, where sample-based measurement systems like Nielsen don’t capture all viewing activity.

Impression-based measurement allows broadcasters to monetize audiences that aren’t currently measured in traditional systems, potentially unlocking new revenue streams. The move toward unified measurement also supports frequency capping at the individual level rather than relying on average frequency metrics that can result in oversaturation for heavy viewers.

“Heavy TV viewers are going to see the ad 30 times. Light TV viewers are going to see it once. And the average is eight,” Tatta explained. “So I think we got to get around to more individual level frequency capping where we can track it.”

The integration of artificial intelligence into advertising workflows is gaining traction as data becomes more centralized across platforms. Rather than point solutions tied to specific technologies, advertisers are seeking AI applications that work across different parts of their workflow and technology stack.

Premium programmers are also exploring programmatic advertising solutions, though current open-web programmatic models don’t align well with their needs for pricing control and brand safety. Self-service advertising platforms are emerging as a middle ground, allowing programmers to capture small and medium-sized business advertising that previously went to demand-side platforms.

Disney’s self-service platform has onboarded 40,000 new advertisers in two years, demonstrating the potential for simplified, e-commerce-style TV advertising purchases. These platforms aim to make television advertising as accessible as digital advertising on Google or Facebook for smaller businesses that lack dedicated media planning resources.

The industry is also seeing experimentation with personalized linear experiences.

Fox’s approach to the Super Bowl broadcast on Tubi, featuring unique programming and targeted advertising for younger demographics, illustrates how programmers can leverage first-party data to create differentiated experiences across platforms.

As the media landscape continues to evolve, the successful companies will be those that can unify fragmented advertising operations while maintaining the premium positioning that differentiates traditional broadcasters from commoditized digital inventory. The challenge lies in balancing automation and efficiency with the control and quality that premium content demands.