• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, April 21, 2025

Transparency has become crucial in connected TV (CTV) for media buyers because it ensures accuracy in ad placements, allows for better performance measurement, and helps avoid fraud. It’s the basic feature in Charter Communications’ ad business Spectrum Reach.

Charter recently partnered with digital advertising technology firm PubMatic to create a new path for advertising campaigns by expanding its CTV marketplace 

Abbie Reichner, regional vice president of customer success, CTV at PubMatic, said the company's core supply-side platform (SSP) technology as well as its supply path optimization (SPO) solution, Activate, will integrate directly into Spectrum Reach’s ad inventory.

Advertisers are looking to invest more in TV through streaming services and internet-connected devices, calling the media a performance play.

Emarketer estimates advertisers will increase the combined amount spent this year in these two areas by 15.8%, reaching $33.35 billion.

PubMatic will support Charter's ability for media buyers to know when they target an audience using a Roku device on the Spectrum TV App, as well as identifying the specific program, such as ESPN's SportsCenter in Charlotte.

Charter’s technology enables media buyers to bid directly on Spectrum Reach’s inventory -- bypassing intermediaries and potentially streamlining the bidding process. This direct access for advertisers can potentially provide more control and lower costs, as they can bid directly on inventory without going through additional steps or platforms. 

The partnership will use PubMatic's biddable platform. Spectrum Reach's platform extends into more than 450 streaming and traditional TV networks and publishers, including live news and sports, from national to local. It can pull in first-party data from more than 30 million households.

Through a collaboration with Amazon Ads and proprietary planning tools like Audience Reach Optimizer, Charter can offer local advertisers — and even small and medium-sized businesses —access to serve TV ads in nearly every household in their service area.

Then there is the ability to activate addressable audience campaigns that deterministically measure the performance of those campaigns.

Artificial intelligence (AI) supports decisions on how ads are served by defining the device and type of content that audiences are watching. For example, knowing target audiences watch Spectrum News and that CNN allows Spectrum to create a campaign focused solely on news.

Streaming video continues to dominate entertainment with advertisers reallocating budgets from traditional linear TV to digital-first platforms, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau's annual revenue report released last week.

Ad-supported tiers from Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime continue to expand inventory while driving down CPMs. Live sports streaming on platforms like YouTube TV and Amazon attract ad dollars, and skinny bundles help reduce churn and boost ad-supported revenue, according to the IAB report.