At our recent EMEA Customer Advisory Forum event, I had the opportunity to sit down with media analyst Ian Whittaker for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of advertising, the power of TV and streaming, and the structural shifts reshaping our industry.
His central message was both timely and provocative: the biggest threat to premium video isn’t YouTube, AI, or measurement gaps – it’s a loss of confidence among those who create, distribute, and monetise it. And confidence, as Ian made clear, starts with belief in the value we bring to brands, consumers, and society.
Let’s start with the macro context. Despite economic uncertainty, advertising investment has remained resilient. Why? Because marketers are increasingly recognising that advertising isn’t a cost, it’s intangible CapEx. It’s how you grow, protect, and differentiate your brand in an environment where pricing power matters more than ever. The inflationary period was a real-time experiment that proved a simple truth: strong brands can raise prices and maintain profitability.
This is where premium video, across linear, streaming, AVOD, FAST, and more play a vital role. It is still the most effective platform for brand building. Consumers trust it, remember it, and seek it out. Even among younger viewers, professionally produced, long-form content still dominates viewing time.
But platforms with closed ecosystems, the walled gardens, have succeeded in framing the narrative. They’ve positioned themselves as the future of video, using vague or incomparable metrics, and winning mindshare through simplicity and scale. That narrative has taken hold, especially in the boardroom.
So, what do we do?
We need a unified, confident response: one that puts purpose first. Premium video, across different platforms, plays a vital role in culture and society. It informs, entertains, and reflects who we are. It’s content that connects people, supports journalism, and creates shared moments. Crucially, it’s #FundedByAdvertising — and that funding must be protected.
This is why the industry, not just broadcasters, but streamers, media owners, and technology partners, must speak with one voice. We must shift the conversation from fragmentation and formats to outcomes and impact. We need to reframe what “TV” means: not as a legacy channel, but as a dynamic, measurable, brand-safe environment that delivers genuine business results.
Measurement will evolve. We don’t need perfection, we need relevance. Decades of audience data provide a solid foundation. The opportunity is to modernise, integrate, and connect that with outcome-based insights that matter to marketers.
And finally, we need to believe in what we’re selling. If we don’t, why should anyone else?
At PubMatic, we’re committed to supporting an open, transparent, and sustainable future for digital advertising. That means championing the value of premium advertising environments and helping our partners do the same.
Because this isn’t about defending the past; it’s about owning the future.
