• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 3, 2024

Looking for consolidation in the TV streaming operating-system business?

This question comes as demand-side advertising-tech platform The Trade Desk now has made a bold move to invade the smart TV streaming TV operating-system business -- especially when there are already heavy hitters out there: Roku, Amazon, Samsung and Vizio, to name a few.

The Trade Desk is starting a new streaming operating system called Ventura, based in Ventura, California.

Mulling the possibilities -- with “no knowledge of any strategic discussions” -- Michael Morris, media analyst of Guggenheim Securities, posits this question: “Is Trade Desk ‘Ventura-ing’ toward a Roku Acquisition?”.

Morris believes the Trade Desk would face a “long climb to achieve the market penetration necessary to impact the industry.”

He adds: “We believe The Trade Desk could rapidly scale its operating system ambitions via Roku’s 85 million-plus global streaming household footprint, while Roku could quickly leverage its first-party viewer data and expanding CTV inventory to match with growing advertiser demand.”

To a great extent, this seems to amplify one obvious trend: the movement -- and issues -- that come with merging "demand-side" and "sell-side" advertising platforms.

On the one hand, streamlining the ad-buying process makes sense. On the other hand, many wonder about conflicts of interest and transparency.

The Trade Desk has been at the forefront of trying to deal with the latter, fostering an open process to combat digital major digital media players’ "walled gardens."

One of its main efforts comes via its open-source identity graph, Unified ID 2.0. Two years ago, it launched OpenPath, providing a way for advertising to connect directly with publishers.

And there is this to note: The Trade Desk and Roku have made some ad-tech data deals. In August, Trade Desk inked a Unified ID 2.0 for Roku to be used across all its premium streaming inventory.

Back in April, Roku struck a deal with The Trade Desk for Roku’s automatic content recognition data.

The bigger picture for any streaming consolidation may come with connecting/merging operating system technology.

Who, if anyone, will move first?