It has only existed for about six months but Universal Ads continues to do cool things. Or at least we think so.
The Comcast offshoot, which focuses on broadening access to CTV advertising, has announced the launch of a TV Business Partner Program. The program recommends third-party platforms to help “brands, especially those new to the TV ecosystem, access tools to build, test, and launch TV commercials.” At launch, partner companies include Canva for creative, Triple Whale for analytics, and Haus for measurement, and more.
In the launch press release, Greg Lieber, Head of Product Partnerships at Universal Ads, said, “We’ve repeatedly said Universal Ads is about making TV advertising as easy as social media advertising. “In order to do so, we are giving brands, including those that are emerging and/or new to TV, access to what they need to succeed.”
Currently, Universal Ads includes programming from 15 major publishers like NBCUniversal, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox Corporation, and Roku, with “more to come.”
Why This Matters:
For CTV ad spend to continue growing, access to inventory and media-buying, management, and measurement tools needs to be democratized. We’ve seen a flurry of moves with this objective in mind over the last year, with companies like Roku and Comcast (of course, in this instance) recognizing the need to open up access to keep ad dollars flowing.
However, access alone isn’t enough—education and support across the lifecycle of a campaign, beyond what Universal Ads offers (which is really a simple access point to a range of premium TV inventory), are also crucial.
Experts React:
Streamr AI, a company that makes it possible to use Gen AI to make TV-ready ads, is also part of the Business Partner Program. Here’s what Streamr’s CEO had to say:
Our Take:
This is a cool initiative, and we’ve praised Universal Ads in the past. The effort to help SMBs do more with streaming and CTV is good for everyone. However, ensuring these smaller players get their money’s worth—since larger brands can afford “waste” or “nonperforming media” in a way SMBs can’t—is key. This initiative supports that, we think.
This follows another recent move by Universal Ads with Ramp, which we wrote about, that gave Ramp’s mostly SMB customers access to Universal Ads via credits.
