• by Tobi Elkin , Staff Writer @tobielkin, November 19, 2015

Following Wednesday’s Prep and Predictions inaugural post, I was having coffee with SpotX the other day -- specifically Sean Buckley, SVP, platform and global supply -- about issues in the SpotX universe.

Maybe an update is in order: SpotX’s customers are on the sell side -- they’re publishers and broadcasters -- and the company is working with digital video, OTT, CTV, mobile video, desktop video and basically, any kind of video. Customers use the SpotX platform to manage and monetize video inventory on every platform/device, etc. SpotX considers its competition Facebook’s LiveRail, Google, AOL/Verizon, along with Sticky Ads.

Here are Buckley’s predictions for 2016:

1.CTV inventory will increase: “More publishers are making their inventory available through CTV, and publishers are creating apps to view CTV. That means more inventory.”

2. iOS apps will be tailored for the big screen: "Apple TV’s iOS open platform is a more robust ecosystem,  and there will be way more content available -- and a lot of that content will be ad-supported."

3. 2016 will be the pinnacle of linear TV from an ad revenue standpoint in the U.S.: “This is due to the Olympics, the elections, more time spent with digital devices, and the underlying shift to digital consumption. However, ad revenue has lagged.”

4. Desktop display advertising will max out: "Over the next eight to 12 months, desktop display (banners) will peak and start to decline. That’s the first decline we’ll see in digital:in the desktop, banner segment. More dollars are flowing into mobile, in general, and away from desktop banners.”